Faster Than You Think
by DC111
Summary: No matter how incredible, Sonic has never failed to beat the odds. Now, though, his foe resides quite literally within him, and even the blue blur himself may not be fast enough to defeat it. Please read and review. Main characters are Sonic and Tails.
1. Chapter 1: Trapped

I'm b_aaa_aaack!

New readers: This is probably the best place to start if you don't want to read my series from the beginning, because this one is a completely new storyline. The first chapter contains a flashback that might not make much sense at first, but that's about it.

Old readers: Welcome back, my loyal min—err—reviewers! Thanks for sticking with the series so far. I really, really appreciate it. Sometimes the encouragement I get is the only thing that keeps me going. Anyway, I should mention that it would be a good idea to check out my profile for some information on the series. I renamed it and explained a few things that you might want to know for the future.

ALL readers: As far is this chapter goes... this'll probably confuse EVERYONE. But things will clear up in the next few, I promise. Updates should be every week or two (_should _being the operative word, here). As all other authors on this site probably say… please leave a review. Also, be sure to add this to your story alert list!

Oh yeah, and this will be told in the 1st and 3rd person point of view, for a change. Italics are in Sonic's point of view, normal typing is third person (which will be most of the time).

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CHAPTER 1: Trapped.

_Why is everything so… vague?_

_There's nothing but blackness surrounding me. I look to my left, then my right. Nothing changes. It's just completely dark, darker than a night with no city lights around._

_Which is really strange. I remember waking up outside a few hours after finding the Emerald again, and going into Tails' house because it was getting cool out there. He had gotten up, too, and asked me to change the light bulb in the living room – where I was going to sleep – because it had burned out._

_So why is it so damn dark in here? I can't even find a light switch!_

_And… come to think of it, I can't hear anything, either. Usually, the low moan of the furnace can be heard throughout the entirety of this small house. Plus, Tails is usually up before me, and I can hear him working on his gadgets and stuff downstairs. If neither of those two things are going on, then the rush of the ocean is always a constant sound._

_The only thing I hear right now is this annoying ringing in my ears._

_I'm no longer on the sofa I collapsed on, either. As this realization dawns, my right hand begins frantically searching the area next to me._

_Instead of the soft cushioning of furniture I hoped for and only half-anticipated, I feel something hard… cold… metal…_

_And a memory rushes into my head._

_Zorro._

_He… he didn't die back in the Dome Base, did he? No… I remember now!_

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_"Tails, do you mind if I sleep in here for the rest of the night?" I whispered. I noticed upon entering my friend's room that his eyes were wide open. "Hey, you're awake?"_

_"Yeah. I heard a loud noise. Is that why you're in here?"_

_"Nah, I just got cold. I'm going to pull out the couch in the living room, okay?"_

_The fox nodded. "Of course! But you might want to grab a light bulb from the closet. The light's burned out, and I have a lot of junk in there that you might trip over."_

_"All right, I can do that."_

_It was ten minutes later when I was lying comfortably on the couch. I'd changed the bulb like Tails had suggested… and thank goodness I did! He had screwdrivers, nails, machine parts and other dangerous stuff layin' all over the place, despite the fact that he did most of his work in the basement. Funny._

_I sat up and glanced down the hall. It appeared that all the lights were off again, and that meant that Tails was probably sound asleep. Smiling, glad that the events of the past few weeks hadn't had a lasting effect on him, I laid my head back (trying not to pierce the couch with my quills) and let my eyes close, drifting off to sleep._

_It must have been no more than fifteen minutes later when I awoke again, and it wasn't the "Sonic, you're STILL sleeping?" that I'd come to expect from Tails._

_No… something FAR more unpleasant._

_A cold, tight fist rammed into my stomach. The pain came before I even knew I was awake, and my first thought was that it was a nightmare, since the sensation of pain sometimes seems real in dreams._

_But as another forceful strike landed on the side of my head and threw me off the couch, I knew that this was as real as it could ever be._

_I rolled over and clumsily got to my feet, shaking my head to focus my impaired vision. "Wha's goin' on?" I demanded, albeit somewhat groggily. My question was answered with another blow to the stomach. My breath got caught in my throat for a brief moment and I stumbled backwards._

_"I'm AWAKE!" I shouted angrily. Who would hit me to wake me up? The only person who matches that description is Knuckles. But even he would never be this rough about it, no matter how impatient he was._

_Doing what any person with common sense would do, I staggered over to the wall and flicked on the light switch, then called loudly, "TAILS!"_

_Then I turned around to face someone all too familiar to me, someone I was sure had died. It was a fox identical to Tails – except it only had ONE tail._

_It was Zorro._

_Shock held me in place just long enough for Zorro to land a fourth blow, then the lights went out again. 'Cept this time, they were the lights in my head. I fell to the ground, and to my utter surprise, Zorro did, too. He must have only had enough strength to do what he just did._

_As my eyes slipped closed, I heard a loud explosion shake the workshop, one that was undoubtedly Zorro. My last conscious thought was, "Maybe I should pay attention to Tails when he says he hears a loud noise."_

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_I continued to stare at the blackness as I recalled the incident. Just touching the thing beneath me had called back that unpleasant memory._

_The cold, metal thing my hand rested on wasn't Zorro, though, or even a robot for that matter. It was nothing more harmless than the floor beneath me… as unfriendly as it felt._

_"Okay, so I remember what happened. That's fine, but it's not going to help me get out of here," I said to myself. "Or… wait… am I STILL unconscious from that blow, and I'm not really talking right now, but THINKING?" The last piece of the mini-puzzle fell into place now. That was why I couldn't hear or see anything._

_And just as I understood this, I felt myself start to wake up. The first thing I noticed was an irritating yet mild pain in my left arm._

_…And my right arm._

_…And both of my legs._

_As my body's senses awoke again, the stinging sensation seemed to make itself present in several places on my limbs. It felt more intense by the second, and I began to panic inwardly, wondering why this was happening._

_But panicking would only make things worse; I'd learned that from experience._

_So I remained still, deciding to wait until consciousness took over unconsciousness completely._

_I would have sighed if I had enough control over myself to do so. Everything was coming into perspective so slowly. I didn't understand why, because I'd been knocked out before, and I'd usually wake up as if I'd just taken a nap. Now, it was hard to keep my mind awake. But the pain was certainly helping out with that._

_Five minutes passed._

_I was sure I could move without passing out again by now, and I decided to risk it, shifting my arm slightly. Agony coursed through it and I heard a yelp escape my throat._

_Then I was still again, save for the rapid rising and falling of my chest. I waited until my heart was no longer pounding in my ears, then opened my eyes._

_"AAAHHHHHHHHH!!" The light was blinding! No, not just really bright, it was blinding! I squeezed my eyelids shut again._

_"What's going on?" I asked the air around me desperately. Then I noticed how unusually loud my voice was. But I was barely speaking above a whisper, and I didn't hear any echoes._

_Cautiously, I split my eyelids again, squinting at the brightness above me. Then I opened them a little more. It was several more minutes before I could open them completely, and even then, I still felt like the sun was shining in my face._

_Carefully, I sat up. My eyes fell on my legs. Suddenly, I understood why they stung so much, along with my arms. At least half a dozen needles were inserted into each limb. Alarmed, I ripped the small metal tubes from my body and scrambled into a corner of… wherever I was._

_The room around me was plain. That's about all that could be said for it. Ten by ten by ten, white walls, floor and ceiling. One dim, round light. That's about as boring as it gets. There weren't even any windows or doors._

_Wait… no door!?_

_I was on my feet in an instant… and back on the ground even faster. Stubbornly, I forced myself back up again, and fell back down… again. My legs refused to support my weight for some reason. _

_I thought for a brief moment. Then I rolled over and pushed myself up with my hands. I made it to a kneeling position._

_From there, I brought one foot out from behind me and placed it on the ground, leaning my hands on it for support. Slowly, I pushed myself up until I was standing again. I grinned. "There we go!"_

_Then I collapsed._

_What I estimated to be an hour later, I was finally able to balance on my feet again and move at a jog – but not run as fast as I normally could. I had noticed that my shoes were no longer on my feet, either. I wasn't entirely sure how that had happened._

_Aside from that, I felt like I was a tot trying to learn to walk again. This didn't make any sense!_

_"How do I get out of here?" I asked myself. "I need to get back to the workshop, see if Tails is okay—Tails." I stopped as realization dawned. I had shouted his name when I was being attacked._

_Which meant Zorro knew he wasn't too far away._

_"No, wait! Zorro blew up!" I exclaimed. "Even if he did know Tails was in the house, he couldn't have done anything._

_I couldn't help but wonder, though, why Tails didn't come and help me when I called._ "_Wouldn't he have done something?" I thought inwardly. "And if Zorro exploded, how did I get here? Where IS here, anyway? Maybe Eggman's involved in this somehow... and if that's true, Tails could be nearby."_

_I interrupted my own train of thought as I looked around again. I could worry about Tails later. Even the fact that all my senses had been dulled for some reason, and that I was having a hard time staying on my feet… I could worry about it later. Eggman was probably behind it, anyway. No surprises, there. This was just something new to entertain me for a while._

_But if I was going to get any further in this, the first step was to get out of this giant, empty milk carton._

_Then I could go crack some eggs._

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Like it? If not, at least wait until you read Chapter 2, as that will be more interesting. Thanks a lot for reading, and please review!


	2. Chapter 2: City in the Sky

Heh. I was going to update on Friday, but I forgot. Anyway, here's Chapter 2. (Note: This chapter has absolutely nothing to do with Sonic Heroes - I just decided to use one of its levels for this chapter's environment.)

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CHAPTER 2: City in the Sky.

In the back of the room, Sonic wrapped his arms around his knees, eyeing his target for a second, then ducked his head and rolled forward, increasing speed as he went. His spikes rammed into the wall. He uncurled only to see that he had done no damage to the flat surface in front of him.

Not giving up, he spin dashed again, faster than the first time, but was disappointed to feel the wall deflect him again. He bounced back to the floor.

Getting to his feet somewhat unsteadily – he still felt weak, for some reason – he stared at the stubborn barrier, as if looking for a fragile spot that _had _to be there. Then, for a third time, the blue blur curled up and dashed forward determinedly. To his relief (since all this head-ramming was starting to hurt), the prison he was in began to vibrate as he made contact.

"Okay, good," the hedgehog said, getting up and rubbing his head. "If I can get it to move, then I'm sure I can break it down!" He shook his head to clear some of the… well, unclearness, and then began rolling again, hoping this would do it. He hit the vertical surface again, then allowed his round form to ricochet backwards and smack against the wall behind him. Gaining more speed, he continued bouncing from wall to wall in an effort to shake the box apart.

Finally, after about a minute and a headache later, the wall he'd first attacked gave out and collapsed. Sonic stopped in mid-dash and landed on the ground.

"That wasn't so hard," he said, stepping out of the room. Although irritating, the room had been relatively unproblematic to get out of. "Would Eggman seriously trap me in a place so easy to esc—whoa." The spiky teen's eyes got just a little bigger as he stared in awe at his surroundings.

Before him was a huge, innovative looking city. Weird, hovering vehicles were zooming around everywhere. Buildings rose higher than the ones in Station Square used to; they seemed to ascend forever into the deep, cloudless sky. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, giving the world around him an orange tint.

Beyond the buildings, the hedgehog noticed, there was… nothing. No trees or mountains could be seen in the distance. Only… sky…? He glanced around, outright confused, and then dropped his gaze to the ground.

The perplexed expression on his face vanished and fear replaced it. He could see _through _the blue road beneath him! And what terrified him more was that he could spot the earth's features below, the size of tiny specks!

This city was in the sky!

The hedgehog stifled a nervous laugh. "I really hope this isn't what Heaven looks like!" He stepped forward cautiously, as if the translucent path was as thin as paper.

Nothing dramatic happened though, and in all honesty, he hadn't expected it would, as the path looked supportive enough. It was just like a regular road, only smoother.

But what he _didn't _expect was to be pulled forward by what seemed to be a magnet so fast that his legs nearly slipped out from underneath him. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened as he took a second step.

"WHAAAAHH!!" Sonic shrieked loudly, holding his arms out for balance. Startled, he looked down at the road. It seemed to be moving him forward on its own! But… how?

He noticed what was on the sides of the road: two clear tubes with red hot electricity flowing through them. The words 'electromagnetic force' popped into his head as a sort of explanation for the phenomenon he was experiencing (along with the fact that this place was _floating_), but since he didn't know much about how electricity worked _or _science in general, he made a mental note to bring this up to Tails. Sonic was smart and quite clever, but he left the technicalities to his two-tailed friend.

After adapting to the strange new form of transportation, Sonic began to enjoy the sensation of moving fast without actually _moving._ Now he could see why Tails liked getting rides from him so much.

Eventually, though, he threw all caution aside and broke into a run, going faster than he normally could due to the mysterious street. Effort on his part was barely needed; he felt like he was Super Sonic as he raced along the see-through highway, not coming to a stop until the road itself did.

Next, he found himself on a large, green, hexagon-shaped platform. This one allowed him to stand still. At the leftmost edge of it was another road that led to Sonic didn't know where, and to the right was a huge bridge with a sign at the entrance reading, "DOWNTOWN GRAND METROPOLIS."

"Grand Metropolis, eh?" Sonic repeated. "Cool name." Smirking, he turned on his heels and raced up the bridge.

At the other end of it, there was another still platform. Sonic skidded to a halt on it and looked ahead of him.

The road before him literally turned upside down. It was like a giant loop. On the other side of it was the main chunk of buildings; restaurants, businesses, and even houses. The road seemed to be several times wider there, and while it had the same design as the ones he'd been on previously, it didn't appear that it would move him unwillingly. There were people standing on it as well, to his surprise.

"This'll be interesting," Sonic said, apparently oblivious to (or just unfazed by) the fact that one wrong step on this loop-de-loop would send him falling to his death thousands of feet below. He shined his pearly whites and sped onto the curving path. As the loop began to curve upwards, the hedgehog moved his feet even more rapidly, and faster still on the way down. He was easily outrunning the speed of freefall, despite his lack of shoes and inability to move quickly earlier. "YA_HOOOOOOOO!_"

Finally slowing down when the road was flat, a satisfied grin lit up the blue blur's face. Adrenaline made his heart beat faster than normal, and he could practically feel it booming against the inside of his chest.

It had been quite a while since he had done something entirely reckless just for kicks.

Catching his breath, Sonic walked into Downtown Grand Metropolis, a task made easier by the semi-transparent material beneath him. The hedgehog could compare it to sliding on ice, except it wasn't really slippery.

A few steps later, though, the road's mystifying powers seemed to disappear. Aware of this, Sonic quickened his pace and only slowed down when the path widened and buildings surrounded him.

"Pretty cool looking," he said to himself. Everything around him looked futuristic. Even the decorative trees had an evolved look about them. So did the people, to Sonic's surprise. They wore steel vests over their cloths for some reason, and a few had strange metal braces around their arms. He wondered why.

As the curious hero continued, he noticed that negative vibes seemed to be coming from everyone he passed, giving the atmosphere a tense feel. They all either ignored him or gave him a dirty look that made him feel incredibly unwelcome. He pressed on, looking down at the ground and ignoring the people. His hands remained at his sides in an unthreatening but ready manner; if he had been trapped in this place, somebody here must not want him around, and he was ready to fight if he had to.

Sonic was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the human he was heading towards, and walked right into him. Before he realized what happened, he was on the ground.

"Hey, sorry 'bout that," the hedgehog said, pushing himself to his feet. "I guess I—whoa! Hey! What're you doing?" Sonic jumped to his left, narrowly avoiding a punch to the face.

"My job," The human answered malevolently.

"What, your job is to attack unsuspecting anthropomorphic hedgehogs?"

"Precisely," The person raised his fist again. Sonic jumped up and grabbed it before he could strike. He twisted it, and, hearing a satisfactory cry of pain from the man, pulled him to the ground and then ran off, swerving out of the way of any more people he might see. Although the hedgehog wasn't afraid to fight for himself, he had never fancied the idea of attacking a creature with flesh and blood. It just didn't feel right.

"What's up with this? Who would _hire_ people to hurt me?" Sonic paused, realizing how downright stupid that question sounded as it passed his lips. "Eggman…" Suddenly it all made sense. Why he had been trapped in a single room, why he was up in the sky, why everybody hated him. Eggman must have created this entire city!

_But how did he convince these people to oppose against a national hero? _A voice in the back of his head pressed on. _He wouldn't sink as low as to… torture them, would he?_

If Sonic didn't know better, he would have assumed that Eggman wouldn't. But as the hedgehog remembered how the malicious doctor had all but _destroyed _his legs – while he was wide awake, nonetheless – and confined him to a state of paralysis, he knew that the megalomaniac could have very well used this method.

A sense of valor took over and Sonic halted in his tracks, ready to turn back around. _I have to help them! _

Before the hedgehog could act on his decision, though, a loud "CHAAAAOOOOO!" filled his ears.

"What? Th-there's a chao here?" He looked around frantically, then spotted a small blue and yellow form a little ways ahead, zipping across an intersection in the road. Not too far behind it was the very subject of his thoughts.

Sonic turned around to look at the miserable people behind him, and then, deciding to deal with the more pressing matter first, continued after Eggman.

He reached the intersection and turned left. "Eggman!" he hollered. The evil genius turned to face him in his hovercraft. "Get out of here!" He commanded to the chao, half-noticing that it had a red bowtie on. It fled.

"Now why in the world would you chase after such a helpless little thing, Eggman?" Sonic asked, approaching him.

"Sonic!" He exclaimed, utterly surprised. Sonic didn't know why; _he_ was never surprised to see _Eggman_ anymore. The look disappeared as soon as it came though, and he grinned. "He was helping me find one of my soon-to-be minions!"

"Helping you? He was running away!" Sonic spat. "And that was Cheese, which means Cream is here, too! That's a new low, Eggman! She's not even six!"

"Oh, I'm not going to hurt her. She's going to help me run the Empire!"

"Empire?" Sonic asked. "Never mind, I don't even want to know. What makes you think Cream is going to obey you?" The hedgehog asked, folding his arms.

"I see you haven't met the humans I've captured, yet," Eggman said. Sonic's eyes widened in surprise.

_So I was right about them, _he thought. Without hesitating, he raced towards Eggman and kicked his hovercraft, catching the madman off guard. It soared through the air and slammed against a nearby building before landing with a clumsy thud.

Sonic was gone long before it hit the ground. He knew this was only a temporary fix, but it would do.

It was another ten minutes later before he managed to locate Cheese. The chao was hidden in a small alleyway, completely terrified. Sonic had managed to convince him to come out with a few soothing words. Now, the hedgehog was continuing down what looked like a highway, the chao safely in his arms.

"So Cream's this way?" He asked.

Cheese nodded.

"Okay. Why don't you lead me to her, lil' guy?"

A look of hesitance appeared on the small creature's face, then he smiled a little smile and flapped his tiny wings, rising into the air. "Chao!" Cheese said, pointing down the highway at a particularly tall building. He flew forward.

"You know she's in there?" Sonic asked. Another nod. "Did Eggman put her there?"

Cheese mumbled something in his own limited language, shaking his head.

"How'd she get there, then?"

"Chaooo…" he groaned, wishing he could actually answer Sonic. He stopped flapping his wings and dropped to the ground, then started walking around like a little human. Sonic chuckled at the imitation.

"Did some of his minions take her there?"

"Chao! Chao!" The chao squeaked excitedly, popping back up into the air.

"So that's why Eggman was looking for her. He must've not known yet," Sonic said to himself. "Hey, is anyone else here that we know?"

"…Cha…Chai—"

"Chail… Tails?"

The sky blue chao nodded.

"Do you know where?"

A look of disappointment appeared on his face, one that clearly said 'no, I don't,' and then, 'I can't talk, so shut up.'

"Okay, okay," Sonic said, seeing the irritated look that was twisting the cute chao's features.

They were almost at the building. Even though they hadn't been moving much during their little conversation, the path had carried them forward. Sonic could see a sign above the entrance reading, "Grand Metropolis HQ."

"All right, we're almost there!"

"CHAO!" Cheese shrieked.

Sonic quickly turned to face him. A scared look was on his face and he was pointing at something a little ways ahead of them. Sonic's face fell as he saw what the creature was looking at.

The road ended about fifteen feet ahead of them. There was a gap between the end of the path and the platform on which the building stood.

"C'mon!" Sonic picked up Cheese and turned around, breaking into a run. After a few seconds, though, it was evident that the road refused to allow them to go backwards, as they were in the wrong lane to go that way.

As that thought came to mind, Sonic raised his head and looked around. He noticed that there was indeed another 'lane'… but it was thirty feet away. The blue blur had strong feet, but there was no way he could jump that far. He would have better luck leaping off the end of the road and aiming for the still platform.

"Here it goes!" He said. Building up all the courage he could, he turned back around, took a few starting steps, and soared off the end of the path. "AHHHHH!!"

It was a great feeling to jump high into the air, going higher and higher until you reach that one point where you're neither going up nor down… you're just floating. It only lasts a split second, but it feels like gravity just disappears for that moment and the air around you allows you to float there.

But, once again, that pleasurable feeling only lasts a second.

The bad part is when the earth pulls you back down just a little too quickly, and you realize you're not going to make it as far as you thought you were.

This realization didn't dawn on Sonic so much as explode. The platform was still several feet ahead of him… there was no possible way he was going to make it unless he defied the laws of gravity… or if Tails came out of nowhere and caught him, but that wasn't likely. He was going to fall thousands and thousands of feet until he met with inhospitable ground… he was going to go _splat _and turn into a blueberry pancake…

Fortunately, all these horrible and revolting thoughts suddenly dissipated in Sonic's mind as he realized the wind wasn't crashing against his face, making his eyes water, nor was the ground getting any closer. Nothing was happening.

"Wha—?"

Then he realized he was being gripped under the arms by two tiny hands, ones that could only belong to his chao friend. The hedgehog turned his head to look at him. Cheese was flapping his wings furiously, ever so slowly bringing them back up to the platform. "Cheese! No way, I didn't know you were that strong!"

"Chaaaaoooooo…" he moaned, his little squeaky voice sounding strained. Finally, after seconds that seemed more like hours, Sonic was set on solid land again. Cheese collapsed beside him, winded.

_My life just got saved by a chao. What does that tell you about me?_ Sonic wondered to the air around him. He sat down on the ground, deciding that letting the little chao catch his breath would be fair. In fact, he rather cherished the feeling of the ground beneath him.

The bipedal hedgehog lifted his gaze to the skyscraper. He began to count the windows from top to bottom, having nothing else to do.

A few minutes later, Cheese was back in the air. He flew in front of Sonic's face and tapped his nose, letting him know he was ready.

"…seventy-three, seventy-four, seventy-five floors. Wow, that's one of the tallest skyscrapers I've ever seen!"

The chao placed a hand on his hip and pointed to the top of the building.

"All right, all right!" The blue blur said, amused. "Let's go find Cream."

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I know things have started off slower than they usually do in my stories, but hopefully this chapter kept you entertained anyway. Chapters 3 and 4 will start picking up the pace a little, especially 4. Keep reading!

By the way, thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I really appreciate it!


	3. Chapter 3: Wasted Months

Well, here's the promised Chapter 3! I think this one will be fun to read.

CHAPTER 3: Wasted Months.

"Let's do this!" Sonic grabbed Cheese in his arms, smirked, and raced up the stairs of the Grand Metropolis Headquarters. "See, lil' guy? We'll have your friend outta here in no time!"

"SONIC!" An excited voice suddenly called. Just barely hearing it, the hedgehog screeched to a halt on the third floor and raced back down to the second.

"Hello?"

"Sonic, over here!" Said a woman's voice. The blue blur looked around, unable to see anyone. It was rather dark; all he could see was an empty room. "Go down the hallway!"

He followed the sound of the voice to his left, then spotted the hallway in question. Its walls were unusually dark, as if they weren't meant to be spotted, and narrow as well. If it wasn't for the characteristic smoothness, Sonic would have compared it to a tiny cave.

"It's dark back here," he said, walking through the narrow passageway. Upon reaching the end of it, he could make out the silhouette of a tall, slender woman. He got closer and realized with a start that she was chained to the wall.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here!"

"Are you okay?" The hedgehog asked, giving the chain attached to her foot an experimental tug.

"I think so. For a while there, I didn't think anyone would show up!"

"That's what I'm here for!" Sonic said, grinning even though it couldn't be seen. "But what's going on, here? Has Eggman done this to you?"

"I'm not the only one! You should see all the other floors! His minions have probably brought in hundreds more people!" She said shakily.

"Okay. Just cool it, all right? I'm going to get everybody out," Sonic said reassuringly as he fiddled with the chain. "How'd he capture you guys?"

"He used his robots at first, then as he got more humans, he made them evil! I'm not sure how, but…"

"Torture," the hedgehog interrupted. Even in the dark, he could see the woman's eyes widen. "Sorry, I'm not trying to scare you."

"Is that what he's been doing?"

"As far as I know. Anyway…?"

"…Now he's been using the humans to kidnap other humans! He has them trick people they knew into coming with them, and if it doesn't work, they attack!"

"Hm," Sonic muttered. "Say, how long have you been in here?"

"I, uh… I think you're better off not knowing."

That answer was enough for Sonic. _Just how has he managed to do all this behind my back? Was Zorro just meant as a distraction for Tails and I?_

"Darn it, isn't there an easier way to do this?" he said, shaking the chain angrily.

"I'm not sure, but I think I overheard Eggman tell one of his minions not to let the prisoners touch the lever on the seventy-fifth floor. Maybe it does something!"

"All right! I'm going to go find it, then. Once you're free, get out of here as fast as you can, okay?"

"I will. Thanks, Sonic."

"No problem!" The hedgehog turned around and exited the hallway. Cheese was outside waiting for him.

"Chao?"

"C'mon," he said, picking up the chao again. "I know exactly what we have to do!"

Three minutes later brought the two of them to the very top of the building. For most people, the journey would have taken half an hour without an elevator; for Sonic, it was as easy as crossing the street.

"Aha! That's it!" Sonic said triumphantly, pointing to a lever to the right of the room's entrance. "Except… these bars are in the way."

Thin, vertical poles half-circled around the lever in question at a three-foot radius. The hedgehog knew his arm wouldn't even come close to the switch, so he didn't bother trying to slip it between them.

"Chao!" Cheese squeaked, and the floating orb above his head materialized into a light bulb shape. He floated forward and squeezed through the bars, then slammed the lever downward.

Surprised cheering could be heard from the floors beneath them.

"All right, Cheese!"

The little chao squeezed through the bars again and flew ecstatically towards Sonic, a huge grin on his face. Then...

"Cheese! _SONIC!_"

The pair turned around to face a joyful, peach-colored rabbit. "Cream!" Sonic waved. "Long time no see!"

"_Sonic!!_" The rabbit repeated, hurling herself into the hedgehog's arms. "It's been so long!"

"Has it? I didn't think—"

"Oh, I thought I'd never see you again! People got scared when Eggman came and you weren't around to help! We thought something bad happened to you, and Amy's been worried sick! Where have you been, Mister Sonic?"

Utterly confused, Sonic's hand found Cream's shoulder and he patted it reassuringly. "I don't know, but I'm here now! It's going to be fine, okay?"

The girl nodded and stepped back. "Sonic, h-how did you get up here?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I woke up in this little room with needles stuck in me all over the place. Then I broke out of it and… here I was."

"Needles… why were their needles in you, Sonic? Didn't they hurt?"

Sonic opened his mouth to answer, then closed it, considering the question for the first time. Why _had _those needles been injected into him, anyhow?

"I don't know," he replied simply. Having no intent of further pursuing the subject, he asked, "How long were you trapped up here?"

"A few weeks…"

"Wha—what do you mean, a few weeks? You… you were with your mom after Tails and I fought off Zorro, weren't you?"

A perplexed look crossed the rabbit's face. "Yes, I was, but… Sonic…"

"What?" Sonic asked, more sharply than he had intended. He had known something wasn't quite right ever since he woke up, and now that feeling was only becoming more prominent.

The rabbit took an involuntary step back, then mumbled shyly, "…Mister Sonic, that was six months ago."

The hedgehog screamed.

It was several minutes before thing were quiet in the skyscraper again. The hedgehog was breathing heavy, anxious breaths. Struggling to keep whatever composure he had left – which wasn't much at this point – Sonic turned towards the young rabbit, who looked just a little apprehensive.

"…How?"

A shake of the head. "I don't know, Sonic. We had all figured you ran off to have more adventures like you always do…"

"But… six months!" Sonic said, astounded. "Nobody started to wonder in the _least _after half a year!? Nobody even considered that something wasn't right? But wouldn't it occur that—" Sonic stopped himself in mid-sentence, reminding himself that Cream was only five and that she couldn't be blamed for all this. "What about Knuckles?"

"He's been at Angel Island, guarding that pretty green rock."

"Amy?"

"She's been worried sick about you, but she knows that you've left for months at a time before…"

_Of course. Why should they be overly concerned about me? I do this to them all the time, _Sonic thought, feeling a tiny bit guilty all the sudden. "What about Tails? I usually come back sometimes and check up on him. He would have started to wonder…"

"As far as I know, he's been at his workshop, doing what he always does, Mister Sonic," Cream replied.

"But you haven't seen him recently, hm?"

Realization dawned as she understood why Sonic sounded so concerned. "Well, no, but I—"

"_Nobody's_ seen him recently?"

The answer was there in Cream's nervous eyes long before she spoke, and by the time she opened her mouth, Sonic had grabbed her hand and was jetting for a nearby wall. "Tails was _with me_ that night!" Fury toward Eggman coming before common sense, the hedgehog jumped into the air, hurling himself at the wall. "He's here too!"

Five seconds later, the were hundreds of feet in the air with no ground nearby, soaring high above the city. Cream was clinging to Sonic for dear life, flapping her ears frantically to slow their fall. Cheese followed behind, struggling to catch up and help. Sonic, though, appeared oblivious to their dilemma as an invisible fire lit in his eyes. "If you so much as _looked _at him, Eggman…"

"Sonic, where do you think he is?" Cream asked, panting.

"I don't know, just keep flying!" The hedgehog said. Cream had slowed their fall, which was all well and good, but now they needed to find a good spot to land before the descended too much farther.

"Should I go towards all those buildings right there?" Cream asked, pointing with her gaze.

"Yeah, go there," Sonic replied instantly. _Downtown. That's a great place to start looking._

The rabbit did so, and a few minutes later they were safely on the ground again.

_Well, take out the 'safely' part of it,_ Sonic thought sourly as he looked around. Eggman's minions were still nearby, and he knew that if they spotted him, it would make this mission a lot harder than it had to be. Plus, he couldn't risk getting Cream hurt. As much as the hedgehog hated to admit it (even to himself), he was going to have to be _careful._

"Follow me and keep quiet," Sonic ordered. "You too," he added, looking at Cheese. Then he led them into a dark alley. "I'm going to need your help," he told them. "Cream, I need you to fly up really high and see if you can find _anything _suspicious around here from an aerial view. Cheese, you sneak around on the ground here. They won't notice you, and if they do, they won't care. Both of you, if you see any buildings shaped like big boxes, come and get me. That's where I was trapped, so if Tails is up here – and I have a nagging feeling that he is – then it's likely that he'll be trapped, too."

"What are you going to do, Sonic?" Cream asked.

"I'm going to head back where I came from and see if I can find anything around there. Maybe I'll get a word with Eggman as well, if I'm lucky." The blue blur winked, ran off, ran back a few seconds later and told them to be careful, then jetted away again, leaving the downtown area.

He soon found himself at the bridge with the Grand Metropolis sign again. He stopped there, placing a hand on his chin. The road to his left led to the small prison where he had been trapped. But there was also another road straight ahead, one that he'd seen on his way downtown but hadn't ventured down.

"I bet this road is just like the one I started off on. If I go to the end of it, then I bet I'll find another prison there." _I just wonder if Tails will be there._

Sonic started forward, but stopped. This road was… the wrong way. If he ran on it, it was going to push him back towards the platform he was currently on. Someone didn't want him going this way, which probably meant that something at the end of this road would be of some use to him, even if there was no prison down there.

_I'm going to have to go really fast! But that's what I'm here for, right?_

The hedgehog grinned and launched himself forward, doing what he did best. Just as the thought, _is that the best you can do, Eggman? _came to his mind, though, he began to slow down. It wasn't long before he was running in place on a huge, blue treadmill.

When he finally ran out of breath, Sonic stopped his struggle and allowed the unmoving path to carry him back to the green, hexagonal platform. "It's almost like the road pushes against me more the faster I run." There was probably some technical reason for this, since electricity seemed to be the power source behind the path's mysterious abilities – a reason that Tails would be able to identify. The image of the little fox appeared in Sonic's mind.

"As you go faster, the road draws power from the friction of your feet," the imaginary fox seemed to tell him. Sonic smiled; that's exactly what the kitsune would have said.

He stepped onto the cyan material again and stood there. There was no resistance. "That's right. When I first broke out of that room, I stepped onto the road once and it didn't do anything. It was only when I kept walking that it carried me forward." While the hedgehog wasn't nearly as intelligent as his young friend, he was by no means dimwitted, either. So he kept slowly making his way down the path, pausing after every step.

It seemed like an eternity later when he had reached the next platform. Much to the blue blur's dismay, though, he had arrived at a dead end and Tails was nowhere to be found.

Disappointed, the hedgehog let out a frustrated groan and dropped to his knees. "How much of this city is left? I don't know where else to look!" There was no choice but to turn back. As Sonic pushed himself back up, though, a glint of metal caught his eye. He did a double-take, and his eyes fell on what looked like a sewer hole.

"Hm. What do we have, here?" Treading forward, the hedgehog approached the shiny, round plate in the ground, eyeing it carefully. It was screwed into the platform. "Gee, I wonder how I can open it." The corners of Sonic's mouth flicked upward into something of a smirk. He crouched down, then pushed himself into the air with powerful legs. Gravity took a full five seconds to bring him back down, and when it did, the platform cracked and shattered beneath his feet. He continued falling.

"Yes!" Reflexes taking action, he curled up and prepared to spin dash to safety, but the speedy, mid-air bowling ball maneuver proved itself unnecessary as he felt his feet make contact with something. Not expecting the sudden stop to his descent, the blue teen fell forward onto the surface beneath him.

Pushing himself to a sitting position, Sonic looked around. The area around him certainly topped the sewer he'd been expecting. The floors were a shiny blue-grey, as were the walls around him, which shaped the area into a hexagon-like building. This corresponded well with the green, hexagon-shaped platform above him, which was the ceiling. In each of the wall's six bends, there was red pole burning with hot electricity, each one about four feet tall. Ascending from the tips of said poles were visible bolts of the electricity, confirming Sonic's thoughts of where the roads' mysterious moving abilities came from.

As he looked onward, the hedgehog noticed that the floor he was standing on only extended half way into the area. He cautiously approached the edge of it, looking down.

There was a floor about fifty feet below, and from the small details he could make out, Sonic thought he could see a door, too. _If I go down there, I can keep going, but the problem is getting down there. I have a pair of strong legs, but with the condition I've been in since I woke up, I don't think jumping would be a good idea. But what I can do is…_

The hedgehog grinned and prepared for another spin dash, setting himself up to hit the wall right in one of the corners. He bolted at it, and then, building up impetus, he tilted his body to the left as his momentum continued to carry him in the direction he was going. Just before the blue blur hit, his round form arched in the direction he had tilted his body and he hit the wall rolling.

Sonic smiled inwardly. Somehow, he hadn't expected that to work out as well as it had, given that he had never performed such a stunt before. Accelerating, he spiraled down the walls until he was within ten feet of the ground, then hopped off and landed smoothly.

The first thing his eyes fell on as he recovered was the door in front of him. It wasn't your typical door; this one was green and had two sliding sections that connected in the middle. The connecting edges looked like the square teeth you'd carve onto a pumpkin. Across the top of the door in large letters were the words, "Grand Metropolis Power Plant," and below that, "High Voltage. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. Doctor Ivo Robotnik will not be held responsible for injuries received by workers or citizens."

"Power plant, eh?" Sonic said to himself, reaching forward and pulling a conveniently located switch. He could hear the sound of gears turning as the door opened.

The huge area before him looked similar to the rest of Grand Metropolis. The ground was the same; the blue streets were still there. While Sonic could still look up and see the sky and streets from Grand Metropolis above him, there was now a floor where he was standing, making him feel more comfortable.

After observing his surroundings, the hedgehog broke into a quick-paced jog down the dark-colored floor in front of him until he got to the end of the path. Located there was a circular, red pad with a star on it. Sonic could see a large spring beneath it.

"Hah! This'll be fun!" The blue blur jumped up and then slammed his feet down on the trampoline-like object, then skyrocketed into the air. The vertical wall he was facing abruptly ended, disappearing into nothingness, and revealed the next area. Sonic landed, then continued forward for a couple seconds before speeding through another door.

Since he was running at well over 50 miles per hour at this point, it was nearly impossible for the hedgehog to _stop, _even though he realized as soon as he ran past the door that his foothold ended about ten feet away.

Before he could even try to halt in his tracks, Sonic was falling. Surprisingly, his thoughts weren't panicked or afraid at first, but rather annoyed instead. _This is real funny. Cream, Cheese, and Tails – three people that can fly – are all somewhere in this city. Funny how the one who can't fly is the one who more or less runs off the edge of a cliff._

_Then _came the fear.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Sonic closed his eyes, feeling the wind rush against his body as he fell ever faster, and inwardly braced himself for the impact that was sure to come. If it didn't kill him on the spot, he knew it would _hurt _a hell of a lot.

"UMPH!!" And his prediction proved to be correct a few seconds later, though it didn't hurt quite _as _bad as he had expected, and the impact came a lot earlier than he had expected.

Sonic's feet hit the ground hard. He let out a pained cry as he doubled over, letting his body roll until inertia allowed him to stop. "Urgh..! Ah—ouch…" The hedgehog didn't move from his position. If he'd been better prepared to land that soon, maybe he could have avoided the situation he was in by now, but… darn it, how'd the ground get so close?

The hedgehog's eyes opened, letting in colors of cerulean and aqua; the two shades of blue that made up all of the electric paths he'd been running on. The only thing different about this one was that it wasn't moving him forward – it was moving up.

_No wonder I'm still alive. I'm still in the power plant._ The blue hero remained still and closed his eyes again – as if that was going to block out the pain – and allowed the platform to carry him upward. He felt like he'd just bent his spine ninety degrees, burned both feet, and bumped his head on the corner of a block of solid concrete, and the fact that he had not been feeling up to par since he woke up wasn't helping matters. For a few torturous minutes, all he wanted to do was pass out, but he knew that wouldn't get him any further.

It was at least five minutes before Sonic could see another platform. It was shaped so that the huge elevator he was on would fit into it when it stopped. He figured this would be the best time to get off, or else he'd have to wait for it go back down and come back up again. The elevator finally rose through the large, hexagonal hole in the platform, and the hedgehog forced himself to his feet before stepping off as gently as possible.

Only a little rejuvenated, Sonic continued his journey at a walk. To his relief, it didn't last much longer, for in the next room, his award awaited him: a ten-by-ten white box. The hedgehog was so shocked that he nearly collapsed again; it was about time!

"Tails!" He called. "Little bro, are you in there?"

No answer.

"No… no, please be in there!" Sonic said, his smile falling from his face. Determination overrode pain and he raced forward, slamming himself into the front wall as hard as he could.

"AGH!" The blue blur dropped to his knees, gripping his right shoulder, then struggled to his feet once more. He backed up, then curled over and spun into the tiny building with all his might. He let out a scream of agony as he grinded against it; his muscles were begging him to stop, to take a break… but he wouldn't give in. Finally, he broke through it. He felt his body hit the opposite wall, then his still-bare feet hit the ground, shortly followed by his hands.

For about thirty seconds, the hero stayed on his hands and knees, head hanging down, blood and sweat dripping from his nose. The forces of the world around him were finally taking their toll.

Sonic turned his head, having nearly forgotten what he had just endured all that pain for. Sure enough, Tails was laying in the middle of the room.

The hedgehog ignored his own pain for the moment and dragged himself over to his friend. Tens of needles were stuck in his arms and legs, all of them connected to tubes that disappeared into the floor. A lot more gently than he had been with himself, Sonic began pulling the needles out of the fox's skin, all the while still wondering what the heck was going on. The two of them had been in a coma for half a year, no doubt caused by something in those needles, but somehow Sonic just couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Am I the only one who noticed the incredible amount of hexagons in Grand Metropolis and Power Plant in Sonic Heroes? The company the place was made by is even called Hexa-eco, if you look closely on the walls.

Well, that was more fast-paced, for a nice change. I know the ending was a little abrupt, but if I didn't stop there, the chapter would be twice as long. I also want to mention (if I didn't already) that this story doesn't relate to Sonic Heroes at all - I just used two of the environments, that's all.

Thanks for reading! See you next update!


	4. Chapter 4: Almost

**Sorry it took longer than it should have for this one. I was out of town last week, and while I was gone a tornado tore through not too far from where I live and the computer wouldn't work for a couple days after that. 'S all good now, though!**

**By the way, if I get an anonymous review that's something more than "OMG cool story," I'll respond to it here since I can't send review replies to anonymous reviewers.**

**Sara: Some of those things you're confused on probably aren't explained in great detail because they happened in Beyond the Chaos, the prequel to this story. Like I said before, though, this story was meant to be confusing in the beginning, so that could be part of it, too. By the time you read the chappy after this one, things should make more sense. ;) Thanks for the review!**

**This chapter is a bit shorter than the last two, but I think you'll find that it has quite a bit packed into it.**

CHAPTER 4: Almost

Sonic opened his eyes.

"Wh—what?" He blinked several times, then recalled the events that had happened a few hours ago. "I fell asleep… wh… huh?" Sonic turned his head and stared at Tails, who was still unconscious a few feet away from him. All the needles were on the floor next to his body, where he left them.

Sonic sat up. His back and head were still sore, but it was nothing like the pain he'd experienced earlier. Blood stuck to his forehead and nose like dried glue. He wiped it off, then grabbed Tails by the shoulder with his other hand and shook him. "Tails?" There was no response. He hadn't really anticipated one, but it was disappointing all the same. Sonic sighed, then stood, lifting the fox over his shoulder. "Let's get outta here, okay? I'll get you somewhere safe," he assured, even though his friend couldn't hear him.

Behind the prison, there was another path Sonic could follow. He opted to do so instead of going back the way he came. When he reached the end of the narrow passageway, there was another springboard. He jumped from it, holding tightly to Tails, then landed as neatly as he could on the next platform.

The narrow path widened. The floor beneath Sonic's feet was light blue in color, and the walls were blue. There was a blue structure much like all the previous ones he'd seen, only this one was vertical.

"That's weird. I didn't know there were straight-up ones." The hedgehog ventured forward curiously. As he approached the upward road, he suddenly felt twenty pounds lighter. He took another step; the ground was only barely beneath him. Sonic grinned as understanding dawned, and he walked forward until the electromagnetic wall lifted him off his feet and up to the top of it.

_That was sort of cool,_ the hedgehog thought to himself, landing in the next room. Although he was by no means feeling up to par, he was feeling significantly better, and was finally starting to enjoy this… even if only a little bit. He nodded his head, as if to confirm that everything was all right now, and then broke into a swift run. The speed felt good, even though the pressure on his feet was greater since his shoes were missing. It seemed as though every step he took brought him farther away from his pain, farther away from the qualms in his mind. Running was his drug.

Unfortunately for the hedgehog, though, his enjoyment barely lasted another minute.

The downhill passageway he had been racing down with ease abruptly widened, and the floor ended and dropped off a few yards away. Realizing this just in time, Sonic stopped so fast that he fell backwards and let go of Tails.

_Well, I guess this beats another… erm… accident._

Sitting himself up a little and supporting his weight with his arms, the blue blur looked at what was before him.

The best way to describe the area ahead was _tall. _The ceiling was high and the dark teal walls were narrow. They had the word 'HEXAeco' on them every couple feet, explaining almost every foothold Sonic had stepped on so far. _He took over a building company to make this place? I thought he was supposed to be smart enough to do that himself, _the hedgehog thought sourly.

Several ledges jetted out from the walls, each one a little higher than the one before it and a little _farther _than the one before it. He noticed that there were large, red orbs floating idly on some of them. They were about his height. "Wonder what's up with those? They're the same color as that energy stuff that was flowing through the sides of all the roads. Better not touch 'em."

After forming a plan of action briefly, Sonic stood with Tails over his shoulder, took a running start, and leapt over the gap. He easily landed on the first ledge and continued onto the second, third, and fourth. From the fifth, two fiery orbs seemed to stare at him like a pair of eyes. The hedgehog hesitated only for a second, then launched himself into the air.

"Whoa!" He yelped, just barely landing on the foothold. Heat was emanating from the fireballs, and it felt similar to hot steam. Sonic, not wanting to stick around, jumped up again and landed neatly on the beam above.

He laid Tails down and caught his breath, having not realized he was tired until this point. Ever since waking up, his stamina had been way lower than usual, and carrying this extra weight didn't help matters. Secretly, he wondered how Knuckles made it look so easy. Before he could reach a conclusion, though, he noticed Tails stir.

"Tails?" Sonic breathed, reaching down and shaking him. "You in there, man?"

The vulpine let out a quiet moan. It was enough of an answer for Sonic, who smiled. Then a fireball at the other end of the small platform radiated, as if making its presence known. Not wanting to raise the body temperature of his already unstable friend, the hedgehog lifted Tails over his shoulder once more. "Just hang on a few more minutes, okay? I'm 'na get us out of – aw, _crap._"

Sonic's face fell as he saw where the next available piece of footing was: twenty feet away, and at least another yard higher.

"No way." Sonic knew he couldn't jump from here; he needed a running start. In order to do that, he would have to back up, but he couldn't back up; the heat from the red-hot globe was already starting to irritate his skin. "Aw, come on, Tails, wake up and help me out, here!" Sonic begged. The fox groaned again, but just couldn't seem to come to all the way.

The hedgehog looked down. Big mistake. It wasn't very often he felt queasy, even when he was up high, but this was an exception. There was a floor, yes, but it was every bit of two hundred feet down. The blueberry-pancake image entered his mind again, and he immediately decided that his only option was to _make _it – if he messed up, he was screwed.

Sonic took a deep breath and backed up as many steps as he could without scorching his fur, then bolted forward and soared off the ledge.

For at least ten feet of the journey, Sonic was positive he was going to make it. If anything, he had nearly _over_done that jump… he knew it. He was in the air, and that next ledge was right there waiting to meet him.

For the second half of the flight, the half where he started falling back down, he began to worry. He hadn't counted on Tails' weight assisting gravity _this _much. But… surely, he would still make it. Yes, he had gotten a perfect start, and that ledge was still getting closer and closer. Even with the extra weight, he could still land perfectly…

And he almost did. 'Almost' being the key word.

Sonic screamed as he came within inches of the ledge, but still far enough away for his feet to miss. Reflexes alone acted next; Sonic's free hand shot upward as he fell. His fingers smacked the edge of the platform and he clenched his hand tightly. His descent came to an sudden halt, but inertia caused Tails to keep going and roll right off the hedgehog's shoulder.

"No!" Sonic's stomach jolted. His hand shot downward, reaching for his friend, and managed to grasp him around the wrist. He heard a snap as the fox stopped falling so abruptly that his shoulder separated from its socket. He looked down; Tails' eyes snapped open. The sudden pain had been enough to wake him up.

"AHH! OUCH! What's going on? I can't see!"

"It's okay!" Sonic shouted, recalling how he had felt when he first woke up. He had opened his eyes to what seemed like the sun shining in his face, every sound he had made caused his eardrums to nearly explode, and every tiny twinge of pain seemed ten times worse. He knew Tails must be feeling the same way. "Close your eyes! It's okay!"

"Sonic! My _shoulder!_"

"I know, I know!" Sonic said, struggling to pull himself and Tails onto the platform. "C…can you fly?" He asked.

The fox attempted to turn his tails, but ended up tangling them together. "I can't feel them!" He choked out. Tears began to stream from his eyes. "Please let go of me! You're pulling my shoulder really really hard and it _hurts!_"

"I can't! I'm not pulling it, I'm holding onto you!" Sonic tried to explain. "Just trust me, everything's going to be fine!"

"Holding onto me—where _are _we!? What's g-going on!?"

"No time to explain, Tails, just don't—"

"AH!" The fox yelped as his senses continued to become more alert, including his ability to feel pain. "My shoulder! _PLEASE let go, Sonic!_"

"I _can't_!" Sonic repeated desperately. His heart was pounding so hard that he was sure it would explode at any moment…

"Let _go!!_" Tails demanded, bringing the hedgehog back to reality. He began punching Sonic's forearm with his free hand, tears still running down his cheeks like a river. The pain in his shoulder was excruciating to the point that he didn't even realize he was hanging two hundred feet above potential death…

"Come on, Tails, _stop!_" Sonic snapped. His fingers were beginning to sweat… if he didn't do something now, he was going to slip right off... He couldn't pull himself up while his other hand was occupied with Tails, and if he couldn't pull _himself _up, then Tails was a goner, too!

"Tails! Tails, listen to me!" Sonic ordered loudly. "I'm going to get us out of this, okay? You trust me?"

"Wh-what're you g-gonna do?" Tails asked shakily, hardly suppressing another scream.

"Do you trust me, or not?"

"Hold on, _wait! _S-Son-ic…!

"Tails, I'm going to save bo—"

"It _hurts too much!_"

"TAILS!"

"_YES!_"

Sonic reinforced his grip on Tails' wrist, and with a burst of superhuman strength, swung him over his head and onto the platform. The fox screamed all the way, then slammed onto the hard surface and inhaled sharply. After that, there was a disturbing silence that, to Sonic, was worse than any amount of loud noise.

"T…Tails?" The hedgehog finally said, voice as low as it could go without becoming a whisper. He grabbed the edge of the foothold with his other hand and attempted to pull himself up. It proved to be a struggle, but after a few seconds, he managed to lift himself high enough to swing a foot onto the ledge. He pushed himself up with it, then rolled over onto the solid floor, winded.

"Tails?" He asked again. He raised his head to see his friend curled up into a ball, whimpering a little and massaging his shoulder. In a way, seeing the movement relieved him. But at the same time, the sight tore Sonic's heart in two. "I'm sorry. The other two options were for both of us to fall and die, or for me to let you fall and die, and I wouldn't have it either of those ways."

"Mm-hm…" The fox managed to mumble. Sonic walked on his knees over to where Tails lay and looked at him. Aside from his shoulder, which looked just a little deformed, there appeared to be no serious injuries. He was sure there would be at least a few bruises where the fox's body had hit the hard platform, though.

"S-Sonic… wh-what happened to m-me?"

"I was hanging onto the ledge, and you were falling. When I reached down and grabbed your arm, your shoulder dislocated. That's why it hurts," Sonic explained. "You'll feel better once it gets put back in place."

"When?"

"When we can get to a doctor." _But that's going to be a while, _the hedgehog thought. _I'll have find a way to go back down to land from Grand Metropolis, first._

"C-can't you f-fix it…?"

"I'm not sure I remember how, bro," Sonic admitted. He had fixed a dislocated bone before – back when Knuckles first joined forces with him and had the exact same problem – but that was years ago.

"T-try?"

"…No more hitting, okay?" Sonic said. Tails mumbled something, and he assumed it was a close approximation of a 'yes.'

Carefully, he grabbed the top of Tails' arm with his left hand, and his shoulder with his right. The fox flinched, but didn't say anything.

"I'll make it as quick as I can," Sonic assured. He thought he could see exactly where the problem was, but the fox's thick fur made it a little difficult to tell. Nevertheless, he tightened his grip on Tails' arm and jerked it backwards, hoping against hope that it was the right way. Tails cried out and began to shed tears again, but after a few seconds, he quieted down.

"You all right, now?"

He nodded, but still continued to whimper softly. Not wanting to cause any more harm to the kitsune, Sonic could do nothing but watch his friend suffer until he finally fell asleep again.

**Aw, poor Tails. At least he's okay now, though. Not a pleasant way to be woken up, is it?**

**You all know what part of Power Plant I used for that part, right? I hope I explained it well enough.**

**Anyway, thanks for all the nice comments you guys have given me so far and please leave a review! See you next update!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Killer Inside

**If you guys got two update alerts for this one, it's 'cause I put it up, then realized I forgot something, took it down, and put it back up again. Heh. Sorry 'bout that.**

**To make up for the Chapter 4, which was quite short, this chapter is waaaay longer at nearly 5,000 words! The last one was only half that length. Maybe that's why very few people had anything to say about it. :( Oh well, maybe I'll get a better response from this one.**

CHAPTER 5: The Killer Inside

"Sonic?"

Hearing the address, the hedgehog whirred around. Tails' eyes were half-open and extremely bloodshot, and upon seeing them, Sonic couldn't help but wonder if_ he _had looked like that a few hours ago.

At least, he _thought _it was a few hours ago. With everything that had been going on since he woke up, it could have very well been a day. He hadn't seen the sky since entering the power plant. When he'd found Tails, he had fallen asleep next to the unconscious kitsune due to his injuries. He didn't wear a watch, but he imagined he'd been out of it for quite a while. After that, it had taken another hour to get to where they were now. Tails had been sleeping for at _least _the past two hours since then, and Sonic hadn't had the heart to wake him after what he'd been forced to put the little fox through.

_And that's just the amount of time I've been in the power plant, never mind the rest of Grand Metropolis, _Sonic thought to himself._ 'A few hours' is being awfully optimistic._

"Hey, lil' guy," the hedgehog responded. "How you feeling?"

"I don't know… my shoulder feels like I banged it on something… oh, wait, I remember," the fox said, eyes widening a little with realization. "Sonic, sorry I kept hitting you." Shame swept over the young kitsune's features and he looked away.

"It's nothin'," the hedgehog replied, waving the apology away. "I think you had it worse than I did."

Confused and a little unfocused, Tails didn't respond to his friend's statement and instead peered over the ledge. "Is that…"

"Yeah. You see why I wouldn't let go of you now?" Sonic asked.

The fox giggled sheepishly. "I'm really glad you didn't listen to me. If I would 'a known we were _that _high…"

"I don't even think you realized we were about to fall."

"How come I was all… weird like that, anyway?" Tails questioned, changing the subject again. "I couldn't see anything right and everything was real loud."

"Uh, maybe we ought to get comfortable," Sonic suggested, sliding along the floor until he was against the wall that their platform was connected to. Tails followed suit.

"Something's up, isn't it?" Tails said, sensing the hedgehog's sudden uneasiness.

Sonic sighed; the inevitable question had come. Now it was Tails' turn to experience the same shock that he had. "There's no getting around this, so I'm just going to be straight with you, here. Do you remember that night we defeated Zorro?"

"Um, yeah. That was just a few nights ago," the fox said, and when Sonic's expression didn't change, added, "right?"

"Hold that question. Do you remember what happened after we both hit the sack?"

"I remember you coming in in the middle of the night 'cause you were cold," Tails replied. "We changed the light bulb."

"What happened right before that? When I came into your room?"

"I…" Tails placed a hand on his chin, thinking long and hard. "I told you I heard a loud noise. But what's that have to do with anything?"

"Everything. Tails…" Sonic paused, hesitated. "Zorro wasn't quite dead yet."

The fox's still bloodshot eyes grew huge, so that Sonic could see every little red vein in them.

"His exterior was missing, and he was dented up, but he was still alive. He caught me by surprise in the middle of the night. All I remember is getting hit four or five times, then… I heard you screaming."

"But… that doesn't explain how we got here," Tails said, trying to sound certain, but the hesitancy in his voice gave his anxiousness away. "Sonic, what are you gonna tell me?"

"That… you passed your eighth birthday… two and a half months ago."

"Wh—" Tails began, but his voice got caught in his throat.

"We've both been in a coma… for six months. That's why everything was all weird when you woke up."

When Tails didn't say anything, Sonic continued. "Eggman must have taken us up here, where nobody would find us. This city we're in is in the sky. We're in its main power plant right now. I was trying to get us out when I fell… that's when you woke up."

"B-but…! Zorro!" Tails squeaked, eyes becoming more red as tears filled them. He was breathing so hard that for a moment Sonic thought he was hyperventilating. "He's… he's…"

"No, no!" Sonic said, shaking his head vigorously. "I didn't tell you… Zorro's dead now! No need for tears. He blew up. After what you and I did to him, it was all he had left to come and attack us."

"H-how d'you know?"

"I heard the explosion right before passing out. And felt it," Sonic told him. "Trust me."

"If you just woke up a while ago, how do you know how long it's been?"

"Cream told me," the hedgehog said, then raised an eyebrow slightly as he wondered whether Cream knew her months very well or not. He made up his mind to not get his hopes up, though; for the young age she was, Sonic knew the rabbit wasn't a dim light bulb in the bunch.

"Cream? What was she doing here?"

"She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess, and Eggman found her," Sonic said. "Eggman's capturing anyone he can get his hands on."

"So Eggman did this to us, then," Tails concluded. "We have to find him!"

"I'm ready when you are, but first we have to get out of this power plant. Looks like we still have a few jumps to make, though. Can you fly?"

Tails tested Sonic's question by spinning his namesakes. They moved, but not nearly enough to lift him in the air. "I… can't feel them!"

"Hm… maybe they just need some time. It's only been a little while, after all."

Tails groaned, frustrated. "If I could fly, we'd be able to get out of here so much faster."

"Hey, it's okay! Jumping across these should be a piece of cake now that I don't have to hold you anymore."

A few minutes later, the two of them had reached the end of the dangerously high area, and were standing on an electric street. It had been relatively easy for both of them to get there, with only a few complaints from Tails about his shoulder or something else hurting.

"This might cheer you up," Sonic told his friend. "Walk forward."

The fox almost chuckled. "Walk forward?" He repeated.

"Yeah! You'll see."

Tails shrugged, then took a few steps. Then accelerated like a rocket.

"Whoa!" The kit fell onto his hands and knees, but was grinning from ear to ear as he was effortlessly slung forward. "What in the WORLD is this?" He asked.

"I thought you'd know better than I would," Sonic replied, catching up to his two-tailed buddy.

"This is SO cool! I didn't know anything could _do _that!"

"Pretty sweet, huh?"

"You bet! You think maybe it has to do with those red tubes on the sides?"

"That's what I was thinking, too. I'm not sure what it is."

"It doesn't have that toxic look to it," Tails said, approaching the edge of the path slowly to avoid being shot forward again. "Some sort of energy, though, obviously. It could have magnetic properties. Is there metal on your—huh? Where are your shoes?"

"I don't know," Sonic said. "They've been missing since I woke up. I'm starting to think Eggman took them off my feet since he knows I need them to run fast," Sonic said.

"So… maybe it's electric, then. Or… wait! Bend down here!"

Sonic did.

"See the little waves underneath this blue material?" The fox asked. "It is some sort of energy. It's like an invisible current that pulls you along, just like a current in the water would, only it's in the _air_," Tails said. "I've never seen anything like this before! I wonder how this was made?"

"When we find Eggman, we can ask him," Sonic said with a wink. "Let's get goin'. He should still be here."

Tails got up and followed his adopted big brother. "Wait for me, I'm comin'!" He said, catching up quickly thanks to the mysterious thing beneath him. "Sonic, did Eggman make all this?"

"In part, I think. From the looks of it, he took over a company to help him."

"Took over? He doesn't usually manage to do that!"

"No, almost never," Sonic said with a sarcastic smirk. "Only when the people who always stop him are as good as dead for half a year."

"Oh… yeah. Did he take anything else over?"

"Unfortunately, yeah. He's been using other _people _to help him, as well. I, uh… got the pleasure of meeting a few."

"Shouldn't you help them? It's not like they probably _want _to listen to him…" Tails pointed out.

"I thought about it, but they've been tortured. We wouldn't be able to convince them to come with us. They'd be thinking about what would happen to them if they got caught," Sonic explained.

"But…" Tails said, then was silent. His expression was unreadable.

"What?"

"I just… I didn't know Eggman was like that, that's all." His face sank as he spoke the words, reflecting the sadness and fear that all those undeserving people were feeling.

"Pretty low, eh? But don't you worry… we're going to turn the tables and give him a taste of his own medicine. Then all those innocent people won't have a reason to be afraid," Sonic assured. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he could see Tails smile at him.

"All right," the fox said after a moment. _He's so cool._

The path ended a few minutes later and the two of them walked on foot to the end of the passageway. Both could see a strange red glow straight ahead. It took until they were nearly there for them to realize what it was.

"It's the power core!" Tails exclaimed, walking carefully towards the area and looking around.

The floor ended a few feet ahead, leading to a pool of what looked like lava. Sonic and Tails knew that it was the same red energy they had seen flowing through the pipes, and most likely the same energy that kept Grand Metropolis afloat. On the walls of the circular area, there were tubes that plunged into the hot paste, transporting it throughout the city like wires would transport electricity. The walls appeared to be made of a thick, opaque glass and had large pieces of material sticking out from them. They looked flat enough to stand on and just strong enough to support weight.

"I'm starting to wonder if I should have just taken that risk of falling two hundred feet back there," Sonic said.

"Sonic!" Tails said, putting a hand on his hip.

"Relax, I'm only kidding around! C'mon, let's go!"

"Sonic!" The fox reiterated, the humor fading from his eyes. "Are you crazy? How do you know there's a way out?"

"I don't, but that's what we're going to go find out, isn't it?"

"But… it's dangerous, and _hot_! We could _die_!"

"Mind explaining to me why that surprises you so much?" The hedgehog asked. Tails looked up at him, appalled, as he tried to find any trace that Sonic was joking with him. But he couldn't; all he could see was unintentional arrogance.

Then he realized how familiar that cocky grin was and remembered. Sonic was absolutely right! _Why am I being such a coward? I've been out of it for six months, so what? Let it go, like he does. This is nothing new at all!_

Without voicing his thoughts to the blue hedgehog, Tails jumped inside the energy core and landed on the nearest platform sticking out of the wall. "What're you waiting for, then? Let's do this!"

"That's my line!" Sonic teased, grin only widening as he joined Tails. Together, they used the footholds as stairs and proceeded higher and higher through the energy core.

"You're right, Sonic! I can see the top, now!" Tails said after a few minutes.

"Told you so. See, this isn't hard at all!"

"But… I can also see the bottom," he continued, turning a look of concern on the hedgehog. "I couldn't see the bottom when I looked down a minute ago."

"Eh, you're just imagining it. C'mon," Sonic said. He hopped up to the next platform. Tails followed.

"Here, grab my hand. The next one is pretty high and you just woke up a while ago, so this might be hard to make," Sonic advised his friend. "Ready? Jump!"

The two of them sprung into the air side-by-side. As expected, Tails' jump wasn't quite high enough, but Sonic's momentum kept them going until they reached the next ledge.

"Thanks!" Tails said, dusting himself off.

"No problem." Sonic replied, winking.

The next five minutes or so went by smoothly. All the ledges were easy to reach for both of them, and to both Sonic's and Tails' relief, there were no more accidents or slipups. Soon enough, though, there seemed to be less and less platforms and the power core was getting hotter and hotter.

"Um… did we run out of platforms?" Sonic asked, looking around after both he and Tails were safely on a large chunk of material jetting out of the wall.

"There!" Tails said, pointing towards the middle of the area. "There's another platform just floating there. What's that red thing on it?"

Sonic followed the kitsune's gaze. "A springboard! That'll give us a good boost!"

They leapt to the springboard under discussion.

"Sonic, I know you think I'm imagining it, but I _swear _that stuff is rising…"

Sonic looked down again, and actually focused on the stuff in question for a second. He saw one of the platforms they'd been standing on a minute ago suddenly disappear under the lava-like substance. Any suggestion of poise that might have been on his face disappeared like it had never been there. "You _have _to be _kidding _me."

"Let's get _out!_" A frantic scream reached the hedgehog's ears. Tails grabbed Sonic around the wrist and all but dragged him towards the red thing, and it flung them both high into the air. "AHHH! What was THAT?"

"That's what it's supposed to do!" Sonic hollered as they skyrocketed up. "Try flying again!"

"Ah…! I—can't!"

"Spin harder! If we fall back down, there's not much of a chance we'll land back on that spring pad again!"

Tails listened, turning his tails as fast as he could. They cramped up, protesting against the movement, and the fox groaned, but kept spinning. Gradually, their fall came to a stop.

"I can't fly any faster, Sonic! I don't think I'll be able to get us back up there!" The kitsune cast a glance at the energy beneath him as he spoke. It was getting closer.

For once, Sonic had no last minute ideas. "You have to!" He shouted. "You can't get us to the next platform?"

"I can't even get us one foot higher, much less make it to—"

"Okay, okay! Uh… can you lower us back down to the springboard we were just on?"

"The lava swallowed it a couple seconds after we jumped from it!" Tails replied fearfully. "Otherwise I would've done that a long time ago!"

"You can't fly harder_?_" Sonic demanded, voice rising. He lifted his legs to his chest as the heat from the liquid below began to burn _them_. "Why can't you fly like you did before?"

"I don't know!" The fox cried.

"If you don't do something we're going to be dead in less than a minute!"

"I know! I'm trying really hard, Sonic!" Even as he twirled his namesakes faster, his aqua eyes began to water.

_If Tails could be spinning those things faster, don't you think he would be in a situation like this? Stop yelling at him, it's only making things worse! _

Stupid conscience.

"Come on, Tails," Sonic said as calmly as the circumstances would allow. "You've always been able to fly good. Your body just wants to go back to sleep, though. You can't let it… okay?"

"I know," Tails said. "But they won't spin any faster! I don't know why I can't get 'em to go faster!"

"Just focus. Put all your energy into it!" The hedgehog told him.

Tails blinked away unshed tears. "It's not working!"

"C'mon, bro, don't give up now!"

"I'm not giving up!" Tails said sharply. "There's a difference between giving up and just _not _being able to do something! You think I'm not trying?"

Sonic realized with a start that there was only one way for this to work. It was incredibly risky, and it probably _wouldn't _work, but…

"And don't even _think_ about letting go!" Tails shouted, seeing the look in Sonic's eyes as he glanced down at him.

"That's the only way we'll be able to get out of here!" Sonic said.

"_We? _There's no way you'll be able to get out! Not unless you took flying lessons while I was asleep," Tails retorted.

Sonic closed his eyes, irritated at his friend's sudden sarcasm. Tails was never like this… Usually, he was crying or apologizing for messing up. _Even when we almost fell earlier, the only reason he was going crazy was because he was hurt… but now that he's not, he's acting… I don't know, older, maybe?_

Suddenly, the hedgehog recalled some of the things that had happened before they were in a coma. When they had been battling Zorro's army on that stormy night, he'd told his friend to get out and save himself… but Tails refused. Then, when Sonic had been stabbed, the fox had taken control and transformed with the Super Emeralds alone. He had been able to do that and nearly kill Zorro, even though he thought Sonic had died at the time.

As more memories came to mind in those few seconds, Sonic wondered for the first time: had Tails been growing up so fast without him even _noticing _it?

"AHH!" The hedgehog suddenly let out a shriek, the hotness from the energy below reminding him of their quandary. He risked a glance down; it was only yards away from him now.

"Sonic, I'm going to try something, okay? But you gotta trust me!"

Even in the midst of their predicament, Sonic smiled. That sounded surprisingly familiar. "Okay, bud, what's the plan?"

"Hard to explain. You'll have to wait and see!"

"Okay," the hedgehog repeated. "Do it!"

Tails swung Sonic forwards, then backwards, then forwards again, this time having enough momentum to swing him over his head and do a back flip. The motion caused them to drop dangerously close to the red liquid, but as they flipped over a second time, Tails released Sonic's hand and he soared upward.

"Yes!" The fox said, punching the air and flying after him. Now that he didn't have the extra weight to carry, it was easy to lift himself upward.

Thirty feet higher, Sonic curled over and spun through the air, enabling him to hang onto the momentum Tails had given him. He spotted a spring on the wall and curved towards it. After ricocheting off it, he found himself shooting towards a horizontal support that went from one side of the circular core to the other. He reached upward and managed to grab it with both hands, then pulled himself up onto it and promptly collapsed on his back.

Less than two minutes later, Tails made himself present next to the hedgehog, breathing heavily but grinning. "That was close, hm?"

"Yeah," Sonic said. "But we're not done yet."

"Yeah, we are!" Tails said. "Look!"

Sonic followed the fox's gaze to see one last springboard at the end of the support. He looked upward; there was an opening at the top of the building that it led to. "Thank _God_. Let's go."

In less than a second, they were both on their feet. In less than ten seconds, they were both soaring through the air towards the exit.

They landed inside a large elevator, that, without a doubt, hadn't been used in a long time. _But then again, how many people would make it up here to use it?_ Sonic thought. Tails had already reached forward and pressed a button – it was the only button available.

"Where do you think it leads?" The fox asked.

"Back to Grand Metropolis!" Sonic answered confidently.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes as the elevator soundlessly raised them upward. Since it hadn't been used in at least several months (if it had _ever _been used), it was slow.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, Sonic turned to face his friend. "That was quite a move back there," he said, respect in his eyes. "I didn't expect something like that to come out of you."

"Well, I had to do something," Tails replied, rubbing the back of his head timidly. The look in Sonic's eyes made him feel proud and shy at the same time.

"Good thing you did, too. Usually I'm the one coming up with the ideas, but I didn't have a clue what to do this time."

"Yeah."

"What was with the attitude, though?" The hedgehog asked.

"Huh? Wh-what do you mean?" Tails asked innocently. Even though he was sure he knew exactly what Sonic meant, he couldn't help it. The words coming out of his mouth were like a defensive barrier that had come up before he had time to think about it.

"'There's no way you'll be able to get out unless you took flying lessons while I was asleep'," Sonic said, his imitation of Tails' voice quite good for having already gone through puberty.

"Oh, that," the fox said with a nervous giggle. "I guess I've sort of picked up your habits after hanging out with you for so long…"

"Never decided to voice 'em until now, though?"

"Guess not. I just meant it as a joke, but it probably didn't come out that way since we were both in such a pinch." An apologetic look came to the fox's face.

Sonic laughed pleasantly. "It's all good."

The elevator came to an abrupt halt and opened. "Yup, it's Grand Metropolis, all right," the hero said. Before him was the alley in which he had instructed Cream and Cheese to stay hidden several hours ago. It was even darker now, as it was the middle of the night. "We're downtown, and there are a lot of Eggman's minions here. Try not to let them see you."

"Right," Tails said with a confirmative nod.

Side by side, they ventured into the alley. Behind them, the elevator closed and dropped back down into the ground. The gap it had ascended out of closed.

Against the darkness of the buildings on either side of them, Sonic saw something white out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and looked at it.

"Sonic?"

"It's a note from Cream," the hedgehog said, tearing it off the wall gently. "She was supposed to stay here."

"Cream? What was she doing here?"

"Eggman captured her, just like he did you and I," Sonic told him. He wondered, but not aloud, if the doctor had tried to take anybody else captive that he knew. "He didn't lock her away, though, 'cause I guess he figured he didn't need to lock up a little girl. Looks like he was wrong."

"Why? What's it say?"

Sonic showed his friend the note. Written on it in messy handwriting was,

_Mr._ _Sonic I had to leave. Eggmans bad guys came after me. I got away but didn't wanna stay here after that. Cheese and me found a way to get down at the end of the city. Its this telaporting thing. Go there and you can get down to. Cream._

"I hope she's okay," the hedgehog said, dropping the note and continuing to walk. "I think we should follow her advice and get out of here."

"Sounds good to me!" The fox agreed.

"How stupid of you… to think I'd let you get away that easily." A voice said from behind them. As both Sonic and Tails turned to face the alley they had just exited, the hedgehog knew exactly who it was… and this realization changed him into an entirely different being than he had been no less than ten seconds ago.

"Eggman…!" He began, an unnaturally low growl coming from his throat. His eyebrows caved downward into a threatening glare that unnerved even Tails.

"No need for that, Sonic," Eggman said. "I have no desire to fight you. I merely want to tell you something."

"I'm sure you do!" The blue blur snapped, lunging for Eggman's hovercraft.

He moved out of the way, having anticipated the assault.

"Really. I won't even gain anything from fighting you. I'll only waste my energy. It's not worth it," Eggman continued.

"Ha! It only took you four years to figure that one out!"

The Doctor's mustache raised slightly as he grinned. "You don't understand, Sonic. I've already beaten you." Eggman paused, waiting for Sonic to speak. He didn't, so he continued. "Did you not wonder what was being injected into every part of your body over the last half year? It's a slow, long process, but I think the job is done."

Once again, Sonic's mood changed so dramatically that it could almost be felt in the air around them. Fear won over pride and rage as he demanded, "What did you do to me?"

"There is poison running through your bloodstream, poison that cannot be removed, even with the Chaos Emeralds. It takes approximately two-hundred days – in other words, about seven months – for it to kill you. You've been unconscious for six of them." Sonic's mouth hung open. Tails, who was still standing next to him, was petrified to the spot.

"Sonic," he whispered, but the hedgehog shushed him.

"As I'm not cruel," Eggman continued, "and have never had intentions to torture you—"

The sentence was interrupted by a loud snort from Sonic. "You don't call breaking both of someone's legs at the same time _while they're fully conscious _torture? I don't want to know your definition of torture!"

A sigh. "You done?"

"Far from it, doc!"

'Doc' ignored him and continued. "...The poison is fairly painless. It's nearly asymptomatic, with fatigue being the primary warning sign. You – and your foxy friend, as well – will simply fall in approximately four weeks and…"

"No!" The hedgehog's blood boiled at the mention of Tails being included in this. "_No!_ You undo this _now_! Or I'll…"

"Kill me? I don't think you want to do that. I'm the only one who knows the secret to curing you! Not that I would tell you, anyway, but at least you'd have some false hope of surviving while I'm alive."

As his fists clenched at his sides, Sonic's mouth twisted into a ready grin. "Consider that secret found!"

**Okay, this is the part where all the confusion from earlier chapters should be cleared up! New readers to my series may still be a little lost as to who Zorro is and what that first chapter was all about, but be assured that doesn't really matter now that the story's goin'. But if you really think it's gonna keep you awake at night, go ahead and read Beyond the Chaos and that'll clear everything up. ;)**

**Thanks a lot for reading and don't forget to review! See ya next update!**


	6. Chapter 6: Anonymous Poison

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Here's the next chapter for ya!**

CHAPTER 6: Anonymous Poison

"So… where's this?" A confused, twin-tailed fox asked.

Since Sonic didn't have a better answer than 'I don't know,' he was silent. Evidently, it was a suburb of sorts, but this one was in terrible shape. It appeared functional, but everything was… a mess. Paint was peeling, the roads were full of jagged potholes, the grass was dehydrated and colorless, and every citizen around looked miserable.

If nothing else, they were back on real ground – for the first time in six months.

"I could be wrong, but I have a feeling some of the people here are going to be like the people up _there_," the hedgehog said, nodding his head upward to where Grand Metropolis hovered.

"I'm glad Cream found that teleporter thing," Tails said. "I didn't like that place at all."

"Me neither, but I'm getting a hunch this isn't going to be much of an improvement."

"Sonic!" Tails said suddenly, sounding like a worried toddler who forgot to bring his lunch to school. "We have to do something about all this… the poison."

"You're absolutely right, bro. You think a doctor might be able to help?"

"Well… Eggman said he's the only one who knows the cure, so—"

"And you suddenly believe that everything Eggman has ever told us is true?" Sonic interrogated rhetorically. "Come on. If he went through the trouble of telling us about what was going on, there must be another way to fix it."

"But… if there _was_ another way to fix it, wouldn't he _not _tell us?"

"Nah, Eggman always spills it one way or another. I think he has a hard time containing himself. He likes to brag."

"I don't know…"

"Standing here arguing about it isn't going to get us healed any faster, bro. You have any better ideas?"

Tails thought for a moment, wondering if going after Eggman wouldn't be a better idea, then mentally scratched it out. Eggman talked a lot, yes, but there was no way he'd go as far as to tell them how to get rid of the poison. That was hoping for too much.

"Okay, let's go," the kitsune agreed reluctantly. _Darn it. I hate doctors._

Five minutes later found them standing before one of the nicer buildings in the aged town, eyeing a door that appeared to be locked. The small place was off-white in color and only had a single window. Sonic could go as far as to call it cozy-looking if the inside was as decent as the outside.

"It just says 'Town Doctor,'" the fox stated obviously. "I don't think it's open."

"Makes sense," the blue blur replied, tilting his head backward. The sky was still dark, but starting to get lighter. "It should open in a couple hours."

"Wow," Tails said, joining Sonic in his sky-gaze. "It didn't feel like we were up all night."

"It was probably dark out a little while before we came out of the power plant," the hedgehog guessed. "And then it took us a couple more hours to get down from Grand Metropolis… I'd say it's around four thirty or five in the morning."

"Maybe we should just go. I mean, the place is closed and—what?" Tails interrupted himself as Sonic looked at him strangely.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" Sonic asked, smirking.

"No way!" Tails snapped loudly, gathering the attention of nearby pedestrians. Sonic's grin broadened. "I just don't see the point in wasting a couple hours in this dump of a town."

"Okay," the hedgehog said agreeably. Tails was taken aback. "Let's go find a nicer town, then, and we'll see a doctor there."

"B-but… but we don't even know where a nicer town is! Station Square is destroyed, and—"

Sonic smiled again, cutting Tails off. "Exactly. We were pretty much teleported right in front of this place, so why not take advantage of it while we're here?"

"But Sonic, I…"

"Maybe the town doesn't give a good first impression, but that doesn't mean it's a dump. It's not too bad. Besides, this building looks particularly nice compared to the others."

"Just 'cause the outside is decent doesn't mean the inside is! It could be a mess in there!" The twin-tailed kid argued desperately, but even he knew it sounded far-fetched by now. "You don't want to go to a messy doctor, do you? You wouldn't feel comfortable wondering if the needles have been used before, would you?"

"Since when did you become a neat freak?" Sonic questioned. "Last time I was in your workshop, you had me replace a light bulb so I could get through the obstacle course in your living room. Besides, you don't _know _the place is a mess."

Tails sighed, buying himself a few seconds' time to think of another reason. Then he came up with the perfect one. "How do you know that the teleporter leading here wasn't just a trap of Eggman's? You just said yourself that more of Eggman's minions might be around since were still so close to Grand Metropolis!" The little fox folded his arms defiantly, looking up at his older brother expectantly.

"Can I help you?" A new voice interrupted.

Blue quills and orange bangs swung as the two whirred around. The door to the beige building had squeaked as it opened, but the two of them had been too absorbed in their argument to notice.

A young woman with long, taupe hair and chocolate-colored eyes stared down at the two anthropomorphisms. She had a white vest on and black slacks that partially covered her shoes. She wore a look of friendly professionalism.

Sonic turned to his friend, then whispered sarcastically, "Looks like an Eggman minion to me," before answering the woman's question. "Uh, yeah. Are you open right now?"

"For two national heroes, I am," she replied, blushing a little as she smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic thought he could see Tails brighten up a little at the word 'two.'

"I'm Amber Williams," she continued, leading them inside. "This is my house, along with my office." Surrounding them was a small room that was evidently the kitchen; there was a counter and stove, a tiled floor that was a dull yellow in color, and a miniature glass chandelier that hung above them. It was quite beautiful and organized.

The next room they were lead into was a square office with light blue walls and a white floor. A single window created a neat, square hole in the wall. There was a mattress on the floor that Sonic guessed was meant as a more comfortable replacement for the hard tables that doctor's offices usually had. There was also an oak cabinet with glass windows in which there were tens of small medicine bottles.

"Normally, I don't open until seven, but since I'm awake and ready, I don't have a problem letting you in an hour early," the doctor said, gesturing to the mattress. Sonic and Tails sat down.

"It's six o'clock already?" the hedgehog asked, more to himself than the doctor.

"Already?" Amber repeated, surprised that six in the morning was suddenly considered late.

"Yeah. It's… a long story. I didn't think it was this late yet," the hedgehog told her.

"Ah. Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?"

"You might say that," the blue blur replied, shrugging.

"In that case, perhaps we should get started. What do you need?"

"Long story short, my buddy Tails and I just found out that we've been poisoned. Apparently this poison has been in our bloodstream for half a year, and won't take its time to kill us if we don't get it out in a couple weeks."

Amber gasped.

"Yeah. We just need to know what it is, and if we can get it out."

"Well, in order to do that, I'll have to draw some blood and get it tested," she explained. "It shouldn't take too long, as the hospital is only a block away from this place, and… well, seeing how pretty much everyone knows who you two are, it shouldn't be a problem to get it back quickly, maybe within an hour or two."

Sonic turned to face his now miserable friend. "What do ya say, man?" He asked, slapping him on the shoulder. "You can take it, can't you?"

"Like I have a choice," the fox said, making himself heard for the first time. "I guess."

The blue hedgehog smiled. _Last time he was put in this situation was right after I took that chip out of his arm a few years ago. 'Cept that time, he was screaming and kicking. This time he's… being really mature about it._

"Don't worry," the doctor said to him. "It won't hurt too bad."

"They all tell you the same thing," Tails said as Amber left to get her supplies. "I hate when people act like I'm a little tot just 'cause I don't like needles."

"She's right, though," Sonic said. "This is nothin' compared to what we've been through. Remember last time you had to get a shot? You were going all crazy, and in the end, I had to _tell _you it was over before you even realized they were done."

The fox gave in to a chuckle. "Yeah, I do remember that," he admitted, smiling. "I was only six then, too."

Amber walked back into the room with a small tray. On it were two balls of cotton, two syringes, and two bandages, along with a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She set it down on the mattress, then took the needles off and hooked them up to two small tubes that lead to fist-sized bags. She knelt on one knee so she was at Sonic's and Tails' height before opening the bottle of alcohol.

A few seconds later, Sonic felt the cool liquid being dabbed onto the inside of his arm, and then a quick bout of pain as the needle entered his skin. His blood traveled through the coffee-straw sized tubes for a minute or so, then the needle was removed and a bandage was wrapped around the affected area.

"Did that hurt?" Tails mouthed, hoping the doctor wouldn't notice.

"A little bit," Sonic whispered back, holding his index finger and thumb close together to signify this. "Just a little," he repeated reassuringly.

The orange kitsune nodded but bit his lip as Amber scooted towards him on her knees. She made eye contact with him to let him know she was starting, then prepared his arm by applying the liquid. He stayed still. Then, as gently as the she could, the doctor slid the needle in.

Tails winced, but didn't make a noise. His breathing got faster for a few seconds, then calmed down again. He looked over at his older friend, who nodded once, and smiled a little, knowing the worst was over.

A few seconds later, there was a bandage around Tails' arm and Amber was standing again.

"You did good," she said to the fox. "Now… I'm going to drive these samples over to the hospital so we can figure out what's going on. I shouldn't be too long. In the mean time, if you're hungry, don't hesitate to grab something out of the cupboards in the kitchen. There's also a spare bed down the hallway if anyone's tired."

"Thanks," Sonic said as she left. He turned to Tails. "I'm impressed."

"Heheh," he laughed shyly, looking down. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Wasn't so bad, hm?"

"No, not really. I feel like I should make you go jump in a pool, now, though."

Sonic laughed. "We'll see if that ever happens," he said. Already standing up to head to the kitchen, he didn't see the slightly hurt look on the fox's face.

"You're hungry too, aren't you?" Sonic asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Definitely!" Tails replied, shaking off his bad mood. "I haven't had any real food in…"

"Six months," Sonic finished. "I hope the doctor doesn't get mad at us when she comes back, 'cause I have a feeling at least fifty dollars' worth of her food will be gone."

"We'll just have to explain why," Tails said, beginning to open cupboards greedily. He licked his lips. "Sonic?"

"What?"

"I think today's going to be a good day."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Amber Williams was worried as she walked through the hallways of the large hospital. Had Sonic said that they could _die _because of this poison? If so, how long would it take? What _was _the poison anyway, and who or what had poisoned them? These, amongst other questions, flooded through her mind and she began to wonder if Sonic and Tails should be at _this_ hospital rather than a local doctor's office.

Moments later, the young woman found herself at a desk. There was another lady behind it, but her face was hidden by the back of a computer.

"Excuse me," Amber said politely.

"Oh, sorry," the lady said, peeking around the computer. "Didn't notice you. What can I help you with?"

"I'm looking to have two blood samples tested. It's quite urgent. I have two patients waiting in my office for their results and I told them I'd be prompt."

"I'm afraid it could take days to get the results back, ma'am," she replied apologetically. "How urgent is this matter?"

"Very. I've drawn blood from Sonic the hedgehog and Miles Prower – I'm sure you recognize the names – as they claim they've been poisoned. Sonic told me it could be fatal if it isn't taken care of."

"Very well. Uh, hold on, let me see what I can do." The woman picked up her phone and dialed a number, then muttered something into it. "Okay," she said. "Okay, thank you."

"What did he say?"

"I just talked to a doctor," she said as she hung up, "who can get the job done quickly for you. It should take less than two hours. He's on his way now."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was three full hours before Amber returned to her house. Sonic, having gotten impatient, had left and gone for a run. Tails, however, was sound asleep on the mattress, one tail being used as a pillow and the other wrapped around him like a blanket.

"Tails?" Amber said, walking into the office. "Tails, are you awake?"

"I am now," the fox said, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "What's goin' on?"

The doctor ignored his question and proceeded to ask one of her own. "Where's Sonic?"

"Out," he replied simply.

"He left? I thought you guys were going to wait here…" she said, continuing to look at him questioningly.

"Heh, guess I should have told you to expect this. Sonic gets bored real easy. I'm sure he'll be back soon, though."

"Well, can you tell him this for me? Not to rush you, but I have a patient coming in at ten-thirty which only gives me fifteen more minutes to clean things up in here and get prepared for him."

"Yeah," Tails said. Something in his eyes changed then; his fate was quite possibly going to be told to him right now. "What'd you find out?"

The sigh that escaped past Amber's lips warned the fox of the answer he was about to get.

"It has indeed been discovered that there is a foreign substance in your blood, and Sonic's as well. Unfortunately, we cannot identify it. No one I talked to while I was at the hospital was able to identify it or say they've seen it before. It's no type of drug, ink, cleaning substance, waste, or any other poisonous thing we've encountered in the past."

"Is there still a way you can help us?" The fox asked, his eyes pleading even though he was already quite sure of the answer.

"I'm sorry," she said. Tails' heart sank and he suddenly felt very frustrated. "We can't treat what we can't diagnose. The only thing I know about it is that it's slowly taking over your bloodstream and inching closer to your heart. It's… it's almost as if it was _meant _to do that." Amber turned away, ashamed that she couldn't fulfill her duty as a doctor.

_You should feel bad, _the vulpine thought but didn't say. _I go through all this fear, all this trouble, just to find out you're completely clueless?_

"My best suggestion is to keep going to other doctors until you—"

"But we don't have time for that! What if they don't know, either? Beyond finding out what the heck this _is_, we need to get it treated! And within the next four weeks!" Tails exploded, frustration and panic driving his words.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid there's nothing else I can do for you," Amber told him as she looked at her watch. Realizing what she had done, she quickly set her arm back in her lap, but Tails had already seen.

"So you're just going to kick us out and let us die because you have another patient coming in five minutes? That's cold!" Tears filled the fox's eyes as he spoke.

"Tails, if I could do something else, I would, but unfortunately there's no w—"

"_We're going to die!_" Tails yelled at her, standing up. "Think of something! Anything, please!"

For a long minute, Tails stared at her with disbelief as she bit her lip, deep in thought. Then, finally, she said, "I can't guarantee you this is going to work, but… there's a man named Evan Michaels overseas who is famous for his antidotes," she explained. "They're known to be very effective and quick. He's made hundreds of them for various poisons and combinations of poisons, so perhaps, as he is an expert, he may know what this is all about."

Without a word, Tails nodded his head, rotated his namesakes, and soared out the window, leaving a baffled Amber Williams to stare at the spot where he had just been.

**Nothing much for me to say this time. As always, thanks for reading and please take moment to review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Ticking Time Bomb

**For the next few chapters (Chapter 8 in particular) there will probably be a lot of medical elements. If you see something inaccurate in my typing (I'm no doctor, so there probably will be), go ahead and PM me and let me know. ;)**

**[update 7/22/12: sonamy lover 111 - I just wanted to say I'm glad you're enjoying my stories so far, and thanks very much for commenting! I've received your reviews, but since you are anonymous, cannot respond to you personally - so I figured I would stick a note in here to let you know I appreciate it. I hope you continue to enjoy my writing, and thanks again!]  
**

Chapter 7: Ticking Time Bomb

Early the next morning, Sonic slid down the roof of Tails' workshop and landed neatly on the ground beneath. It took a few more seconds for the pain to register, which was when he was once again reminded that red and white sneakers no longer formed a protective barrier around his feet.

_When I have the time, I really should think about finding them, _the hedgehog told himself, but the thought was immediately buried by all the other to-dos on his list. Amongst the first few of them was buying plane tickets, and that was the goal he had in mind when he began running towards the city.

With Station Square still in ruins, though, chances were low to get a flight booked from there. Especially when the airport was a pile of ashes.

Sonic soon found himself thirty miles north of the destroyed town, walking through Central City. It somewhat reminded him of what Station Square used to look like, but it held more similarities to Grand Metropolis – excluding the energized roads, of course. Several tall skyscrapers gave the city its shape, and the smooth, cement roads certainly weren't hard on the eyes. Hidden in the shadows of the skyscrapers were many restaurants, hotels, businesses, and stores, most of them looking well-kept.

The hedgehog proceeded at a swift but not rushed speed, taking in the pleasant views as he headed towards the heart of the city, where the airport was if he remembered correctly. (He had run through here before, but only in passing.)

As the blue hero entered the downtown area, he knew his memory had served him right – a jet had just soared over him. He followed the path it had left behind for about two more miles, then reached his destination.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tails could see bright sunlight through his eyelids as he began to wake up. He turned over and stuffed his face into the pillow, but that soon proved uncomfortable and he flipped himself on his back again, opening his eyes.

Bright orange rays of sunlight peeked out from behind clouds and beamed through the window, making the fox squint. He yawned, then pushed himself out of bed.

It took Tails about five minutes to notice Sonic wasn't in the house, at which point he went outside and flew up to the roof, ignoring the pain in his tails. The blue blur wasn't there, either, but Tails knew his friend well enough not to be worried.

Landing on the roof, the fox swung his tails around to his front and rubbed them together gently with his hands, easing the soreness. He still didn't know why they always cramped when he flew… but all he could to until he found out was deal with it.

The orange kitsune peered over the edge of the roof, noticing for the first time how high it actually was. He wondered how Sonic always jumped from rooftops and ledges without injuring himself – according to the laws of gravity, and taking the hedgehog's weight into calculation, he shouldn't be able to land on his feet without at least stumbling from this height. But he could.

_But then again, Sonic's _speed _isn't exactly logical in terms of science, either, _the fox reminded himself. _He's just got tough feet, I guess._

Just then, the subject of his thoughts appeared in a gust of blue in front of the house. Tails' bangs blew against his face and he brushed them away before leaping off the roof and carefully levitating himself downward. "Where've you been?" Tails asked. "Out for a morning run?"

"You might say that," Sonic said. "I figured I might as well go get plane tickets now. I don't see why just taking the Tornado is such a bad idea, but…"

"Weren't you listening when I explained last night?" The fox asked, amused. "The Tornado's not fast enough. Plus, I don't think the engine could handle being in the air for that long."

Sonic shrugged. "I guess you have a point. And I did hear that it's supposed to be pretty windy, so a larger plane is probably better."

"Exactly. So what time is the flight?"

"Uh, eight in the morning. On Tuesday."

"Four days from now? I thought…"

"It's a Friday – we should've known it'd be hard to book a flight over the weekend. There was only one plane left with two spots right next to each other."

"Are our seats good?"

"First-class!" Sonic exclaimed, as if he'd forgotten that little detail up until this point. "I think we're at the very front of the plane."

"Sonic, have you ever been on a plane?"

At this question, Sonic placed a finger on his chin and opened his mouth for a sarcastic comment.

"Aside from the Tornado, duh!"

"Heh, no, I haven't," he answered. "I've never needed to."

"Me neither. Maybe this'll be cool!"

"Maybe. But now we're left with four days to kill and no way to get any further in this. This trip better be worth it, 'cause if this Michaels guy can't help us, then we'll have wasted a week that we could have spent trying to find Eggman."

Tails was silent. He hadn't thought about that. What if this doctor couldn't save them, either?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere hundreds of miles away, in the depths of a huge volcano, an overweight man with a ridiculous mustache sat between four metal walls, arms hanging lazily over the armrests of his chair. A wireless headset covered both of his ears as he listened to Sonic's and Tails' conversation, and his eyebrows were creased downward into a frown.

He had tampered with Tails' com-link while the fox was unconscious. The two heroes didn't know that he now had the ability to listen to every word they said.

An unsuppressed sigh passed his lips as he stood up, brushing sweat off his forehead from the humidity of the environment around him. On his way to the next room, he walked past a pair of red and white sneakers.

Plan A hadn't worked – if it had, Sonic and Tails would still be trapped in Grand Metropolis. In all honesty, he hadn't expected or even wanted Plan A to work. He hadn't _expected_ it to work because he didn't have enough insulin to keep Sonic and Tails comatose until the poison killed them. He hadn't quite _wanted _it to work because it was too easy, not only for himself, but for Sonic. If he had really wanted it to be that easy, he could have had Zorro kill them that night instead of taking them up to Grand Metropolis. But that wouldn't have been any fun.

Eggman was more of a sadist than a murderer.

Plan B, which had been to just leave them be until the poison killed them and hope they didn't mess up all his plans again, no longer looked promising. It was time to prepare for Plan C. Even if this Evan Michaels guy could find a way to cure Sonic and Tails, there was no way Sonic would be able to outrun his newest creations, nor would Tails be able to out-fly them.

Not anymore.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was seven o'clock at night. Tails had turned on his computer and tried to find out more about their problem – and the new doctor they were going to see, of course – and Sonic, who knew how to use a computer but wasn't really interested in sitting in front of one all day, had left the workshop.

Now he was who knew how far away, staring over a beautifully vast canyon. The air was warm and there was a soft breeze pushing his quills to the left a little. The sun was setting, turning the wispy clouds orange.

He brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled. It wasn't a loud, piercing whistle, but rather a gentler and softer one that went hand in hand with the wind. It seemed to float across the entire canyon until its echo died away several seconds later.

To Sonic, that whistle represented pure freedom. It could travel at whatever speed the environment allowed, and ride the wind as far as it pleased, and sound off as loudly as it pleased. And he could run as far as that whistle could be heard… and beyond.

He had that freedom. He wasn't about to lose his freedom – his life – to anything. He knew he was a ticking time bomb, and that every second that passed by brought him closer to potential death.

But... if you think about it... that would have been true even _without _the poison running through his veins.

_Every second that goes by… brings you a little closer to death. I never thought of life that way before. Everybody on the planet is like a time bomb, and once the countdown ends, it's over. There's no going back. You only get one trip._

_I want mine to be longer than a few more weeks._

Sonic suddenly noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and turned to face the distraction, quills swinging behind him. He squinted at the thing for a few seconds before realizing what it was.

"Hm," he mumbled. Subconsciously he thought that this was an awfully weird place for a volcano.

Normally, his curiosity would have gotten the best of him, but he was tired and Tails was probably bored back at the workshop by now…

Tails.

Sonic's heart seemed to jump in realization. He wasn't the _only _one in a critical situation here – his best friend was going through the same thing. The hedgehog suddenly felt guilty for being out here enjoying himself while Tails was probably still doing research online.

If there was one thing Sonic would sacrifice his freedom for, it was him. He would do anything to get Tails out of this mess before himself.

If only his curiosity had gotten the best of him.


	8. Chapter 8: Plan C

CHAPTER 8: Plan C

Sonic blinked away dots in front of his eyes, turning away from the brightness of the sunset. He began running back towards the Mystic Ruins, all the while wondering if Tails had found anything out. He hoped so; he couldn't help feeling a little worried about what was going to happen to them.

His train of thought eventually distracted him and, as apparent as it should have been, Sonic did not notice the vibrant green diamond sticking out of the ground until he was upon it. By then, it was too late to react, and he found himself skidding through the dirt. On his face.

When he came to a stop moments later and opened his eyes, the Chaos Emerald he had tripped on was now a few feet away from him, glowing bright as if laughing at his clumsiness. The hedgehog rolled over to it and snatched it in his hand. "Stupid thing," he muttered, but was glad he had come across it anyhow.

A few minutes later, the blue hero pushed open the door to Tails' house and walked in. The fox turned his rolling chair around to face him. He noticed Sonic before the Emerald. "You've got somethi—"

"I know," Sonic interrupted, using his arm to wipe some more dirt off his face. It was only then that Tails noticed the shining object clutched in his friend's hand.

"Wow, look at that!" He exclaimed. "Did you just find it?"

Sonic nodded. "I don't think it likes me," he muttered.

Tails laughed, putting two and two together as he looked back up at Sonic's muck-smeared face. "Maybe you should pay more attention when you run."

"Thanks," the hedgehog replied dryly. He glanced down at the Emerald. "It's glowin'. You up to go on a little hunt?"

"Heck yeah!" The fox said, on his feet in a second. They headed outside. "Boy, this sounds like a lot more fun than being cooped up in here for another eternity!"

"Speaking of which, what have you been doing all day? Find anything interesting?"

"Actually, yeah. I think I found out what the stuff is that Eggman injected us with!" Tails began as they walked out. Sonic looked mildly surprised as Tails continued:

"It's an arsenic compound. No one really knows what's in it aside from arsenic. Apparently the compound was used centuries ago to punish murderers and other felons for their crimes. It was discovered, though, and pretty soon the public was experimenting with it. Like I said, it has an arsenic base, along with about half a dozen other substances, but they're all combined together so well that it's nearly impossible to tell which is which. Even if they could be separated, there's too small of an amount of those substances for them to be identified."

"Arsenic, eh?" Sonic said, pretending he was understanding any of this.

"Yeah. Nobody knows how this stuff was created, and only a few people who have been poisoned by it have ever been cured. An official cure was never stated to the public, though, because it was apparently so expensive that the doctors who made it would lose thousands of dollars every time they gave a quarter of a cup to someone."

"That doesn't make sense," Sonic interrupted. "There are _plenty _of things that doctors charge thousands of dollars for. Why not this?"

Tails sighed. It wasn't an impatient sigh, though; it was more of disappointed one. "They don't want to have people pay that much money for a medication that only has a thirty-seven percent chance of working. Because if it _didn't _work, hospitals would get sued eventually… and that would result in an even greater money loss." Tails shook his head and looked at Sonic. "It's all about money, isn't it?"

Sonic shrugged. "That may be so, but now we know a cure exists!" He flipped the Chaos Emerald over in his hand a few times; it was beginning to heat up.

"Arsenic, though…" Tails said, deep in thought. "While it does take a long time, you'll eventually show symptoms if you've been poisoned by arsenic. You'd get painful cramps and stuff, I know that much. But… didn't Eggman say that the stuff he used was asymptomatic?"

"Hm. Maybe you got mixed up, bro," Sonic said. "Do you know for sure that you have the right poison?"

Tails' ears drooped a little. "I don't know what else it could be. Nothing else I researched came close to matching our situation, and I searched all day. I thought I had it."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong. Besides, what about those other substances that you said were in it? Maybe one of them was a painkiller, or something. I know it sounds like a crazy suggestion, but that would take away the symptoms, right?"

Tails' expression perked up a little again. "That doesn't sound too crazy, actually. You might be right!"

"And if I am, we might be able to get ourselves cured. We'll get our hands on that antidote."

"Maybe Evan Michaels is one of those few doctors who has it," Tails suggested. "Maybe we're already worrying too much."

"Hopefully that's true," Sonic said. He tossed the Chaos Emerald to his other hand. "Only a thirty-seven percent chance of working, though. That could be a problem."

"Don't you think the Chaos Emeralds could strengthen the antidote? I know Eggman said that the Chaos Emeralds alone won't do any good, and that we shouldn't bother finding them. But maybe if we used them _with _the antidote, it would raise our chances."

Sonic nodded. "That sounds like a pretty safe bet." The two walked on in silence for a few minutes. "One thing still bothers me, though."

"What's that?"

"How come we were in a coma for half a year?"

Tails didn't even have to think about it. "Eggman must have used a separate drug that wasn't part of the compound for that. Probably insulin, or maybe a barbiturate drug like thiopental or pentobarbital. They can induce comas. You raise a good point, though, 'cause six months is a pretty long coma. We're lucky we woke up at all."

Sonic popped the Emerald back to his other hand again. "This thing is getting pretty hot. I don't think we're too far from finding the other one."

"Wow, right here in Mystic Ruins? I'm surprised we never found it before," Tails said. "Maybe it's buried, or up in a tree somewhere."

Tails' guess was proved wrong another minute later, when a speck of bright yellow could be seen off in the distance. The Emerald was laying right there on the ground, just like the first one had been.

"Huh. I don't think that was there this morning," Sonic said. "The winds _have_ been strong lately, though." They approached the radiating object, and just as Tails bent down to pick it up, Sonic felt the fur on his back stand up.

And it definitely wasn't because of the high winds.

"Back off!" He warned Tails, but the fox had already lifted the Emerald off the grass.

Something tore out of the ground behind them.

They turned around; by the time they did, they were surrounded.

Forming a circle around the pair were dozens upon dozens of disc-shaped robots. They were no more than the diameter of a Frisbee, but they had engines on their underside that shot out white-hot fire, levitating them in the air, and around their perimeter rotated hundreds of tiny razors.

They didn't wait for Sonic or Tails to make the first move, either. Before the two of them knew it, they were ducking and dodging so fast that it was seizure-like, and Tails' bangs were suddenly half their normal length.

Sonic sped forward and then began to spin dash, making himself look amusingly similar to the robots. He didn't get very far, though – the bots only had one vulnerability, and that was the top side of their exterior. And with the engine on the bottom and those deadly slicers spinning around the edges, there was no easy way to get there.

"Tails, pick me up!" Sonic said. The fox immediately took to the air and grabbed Sonic under the arms.

"I still can't go very high," he said, rotating his own blades as fast as he could. "I wish I knew what was wrong!"

"That's okay – go ahead and let go now!" the hedgehog told him. Tails released him and he began to spin, aiming for the top of the nearest robot. By the time he got there, though, it had zipped out of the way and was now several feet above him.

Its miniature blades had nicked Sonic's head on the way, and now he had a tiny bald spot right between his ears.

"I didn't ask for a hair cut!" The hedgehog said as he landed on his feet.

"Sonic, get outta the way!" Tails called. He dropped down and yanked his friend by the arm, pulling him just out of the path of another determined looking robot.

"Thanks!" Sonic said, winking. "But don't let go yet; we're getting out of here!" Then he bolted forward between a few robots, Tails still hanging onto his arm.

"I know I make fun of his robots so much that it probably gets annoying, but this is just _sad,_" the hedgehog said, smirking. "He can't do a better job than this _yet_? He's not making it any fun for me!"

"They're following us!" Tails hollered over the wind. "Having fun yet?"

Sonic laughed, beginning to accelerate. "Why do they even bother?"

"I wouldn't go too fast if I were you!" Tails reminded him. "You don't have your shoes!"

Sonic glanced over his shoulder to see how tiny of specks the robots _surely_ were by now, then muttered something inappropriate under his breath before informing Tails, "they're supersonic!"

The fox's eyes widened. "We have to find somewhere to hide!"

"No good! They'll be on us in less than a minute!"

The blue blur increased velocity, looking for any escape and glancing over his shoulder every once in a while. Every time he did, the flying robots looked just a little closer. If he couldn't find a way to shake them in the next few seconds…

"I'm turning!" The hedgehog forewarned. He veered to the right, making a curved path through the dry dirt and grass beneath him, and raced toward a cave in the side of the Mystic Ruins' largest cliff. Every one of the Frisbees followed him.

"This cave opens up at the other end, I hope," Tails said once they were inside, a question in his voice. The hesitation before Sonic's answer told Tails everything.

"Heh. I guess we'll find out."

It was dark, and the grotto's sudden turns were only underlining that problem. Sonic's visibility was limited to about forty or fifty feet… and that wasn't a lot when you were moving at hundreds of miles per hour. His fast reflexes saved them from running head-on into a wall more than once.

"Stalactite!" Tails yelled suddenly. Sonic ducked but didn't slow. Once he was safe, he risked a fast look over his shoulder. To their advantage, a streak of bright green light circled around the robots near their edges, so that Sonic and Tails could see where they were.

To their disadvantage, those little round chainsaws were now only several yards behind them.

"Sonic, I can see the end!" The fox said, and when the blue blur didn't slow, "Sonic! _Dead_—"

Before the he could say 'end,' the hedgehog had released Tails and jumped, right foot leading the way, hoping against hope that there was light right on the other side of this thing.

He pummeled into the rock and it blasted apart as if Knuckles in his super form had just punched it. Sunlight became visible as he rushed out of the cave.

Tails caught up a few seconds later, as Sonic had slowed due to a now sore right foot. Fortunately, his momentum had done more work than said foot, so there were no serious injuries. The rock wall had also been quite flimsy. Lucky them – nature seemed to be on their side today.

But nothing else was.

The robots were quickly closing off the distance between them, and with Tails' flying ability being extremely limited, there was no way to get above them – where their only weak spot was – and outrunning them only had a slightly higher chance of success.

_This would be a cinch with my shoes on._

"If we jump into the ocean they'll follow us and electrocute themselves!" Tails said, beginning to breathe heavily. He pointed to the left, where the ground abruptly turned at about a seventy-degree angle and plunged into the water. "If we just slid down—"

"Not a chance, Tails!" Sonic snapped in a finalizing manner that warned the fox not to push the subject any further.

"But I can _swim!_ I'll be able to keep us safe, Sonic!"

"I'm not doing it!"

"But Sonic, they're going to get us!" The fox protested. "Come on!"

Sonic ignored him and ignored the increasingly painful burn in his feet as he began to run _way _too fast. He looked over his shoulder again; the robots were _still_ getting closer. Holy crap. Surprise.

"Hold tight!" He said, grabbing Tails' wrist again. Then he darted forward so fast that dirt exploded up behind them.

At this point, he wouldn't have been surprised to look down and see flames ascending from his feet. The amount of friction being created beneath him was just _not _normal.

"Sonic, just go in the water!" Tails begged. Of course, the hedgehog wouldn't. Instead, he turned sharply into a cluster of trees and headed for the temple that stood at the heart of the Mystic Ruins. He swerved and zigzagged through the trees, and the robots attempted to do the same. They weren't quite as successful, though, and the evidence was heard in the form of small explosions as they rammed into the stumps and branches.

After speeding through the thickest part of the trees, he saw it. Relief flowed through him as he raced around to the opposite side of the temple and hid around a corner, dropping to the ground and taking Tails with him. He couldn't stop the loud groan that escaped his throat as he reached down to grab his feet. Both of them heard the few remaining robots zip by, having not noticed their sudden escape.

They were safe.

"Ow… Are… are you okay, Tails?" Sonic forced out.

"Fine."

"I… don't think I can take us back to the workshop right now."

"It's late anyway," the fox said quietly, and, if Sonic wasn't mistaken, somewhat tersely. "And it's an okay night out. I don't mind staying here." He watched Sonic clutch his feet for a moment, then stood and said, "I guess I'll go find some wood for a fire."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was an hour later before a decent-sized fire was flaring in front of them. Tails had brought back enough logs and branches to last most of the night. Even if they ran out, it wasn't that cold out, so they would be okay until Sonic was feeling well enough to go back to the workshop.

The two of them were sitting on logs opposite of each other now, warming their hands by the fire. They were both tired, but neither could sleep. Every now and then, Sonic would lift a foot and set it on his other knee so he could rub it. A couple times, he glanced at Tails through the fire, a slightly confused look on his face.

The fox was staring downward into the embers of the fire, but he could see Sonic watching him out of the corner of his eye. He knew the hedgehog was wondering why he was so quiet.

"I would've kept you above the water, you know," he said simply, finally raising his head to make eye contact with his friend. "You're hurt 'cause you wouldn't believe me."

The fox looked back down, this time at the Chaos Emeralds in his gloved hand. He took the green one and tossed it over the fire. "We should each hang onto one," he said as Sonic caught it. He slid off the log and curled up against it, looking just a little sad. "I, uh, hope you sleep good."

Those were the last words spoken between them that night.

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It was a little after nine when Sonic and Tails began to make their way back to the workshop. It took longer to get back than it had to get to the temple; for once, Sonic walked for an entire half hour. What had taken five minutes yesterday seemed to be a lifetime to him now.

If it was possible to limp on both feet, the hedgehog would have been doing precisely that.

Tails wasn't speaking any sympathy, but he was walking slowly so that his friend could keep up with out too much trouble. True, Sonic should have listened to him, but let's not be unreasonable.

He couldn't help feeling a little down, though.

When they finally got back, Tails went into the garage and tossed his Chaos Emerald in the Tornado, where he knew he could find it if he needed to and where it would probably be safe. Sonic, who was paying more attention to that _beautiful _sofa he was walking towards, left his in his quills. Seconds later, he collapsed onto said couch, moaning in relief.

Tails went to the kitchen and soaked two rags in cold water, then brought them, dripping wet, into the living room, not even caring that he was getting water all over the floor.

"Thanks," Sonic said, trying to sound pleasant despite the soreness. He took the cool cloths and laid them over his feet.

"You're welcome. I think I'm gonna hang out outside for a while," Tails told him, and then left.

Sonic sighed, feeling just a tiny bit ashamed. It suddenly occurred to him that he'd acted pretty immature back there. He knew it took a lot for Tails to trust him with his life like he had done so many times… and he had been unable to return that trust.

Just because he himself would sink like a block of lead in water didn't mean Tails would.

It wasn't like the fox was six years old anymore and didn't know what he was talking about. The kid was getting older, and even when he _had _only been six, he had still been trustworthy.

Sonic's gaze shifted to the cloths on his feet, a hint of gratitude in his eyes.

A younger version of Tails would have pouted and comically folded his arms if he was ticked off at him. A younger Tails would have acted dramatic.

But that wasn't what Tails had just done. Instead of showing that he was upset, as a friend, he had aided the very person who upset him.


	9. Chapter 9: The Way the Wind Blows

A few anonymous reviews to respond to here…

DarkChaos: Thanks, and yeah, you're probably right. And no worries, I have no intentions of letting this story go unfinished! I think I'd miss typing it too much.

Tailslover007: Thanks! Glad you liked it, and here's an update for ya.

Man, I am glad I went on a plane before typing this chapter. Believe it or not, my first time on a plane was just a few months ago. Loved it, by the way. The view out the window is AMAZING. I'm glad I don't get motion sickness. Anyway, I paid attention so that I could make this chapter as realistic as possible when the time came to type it. If I hadn't gone on a plane, this chapter would probably be missing a lot of details: airport security, what the inside of the plane looks like exactly, what turbulence feels like, et cetera.

I think it turned out pretty well, and hopefully you enjoy it, too. This one's told from Sonic's perspective, and – I'll be frank – it was a real bitch to type at first. This was only my second time typing first person, but I think I have it figured out a little better this time.

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CHAPTER 9: The Way the Wind Blows

xxx

First person – Sonic.

xxx

Tuesday was finally here.

It'd been a long four days since we got our plane tickets. With nothing to do but sit around and wonder about where we were going to be_ three _weeks from now, it was just a hurry-up-and-wait process that was only made harder by the fact that my burned up feet prevented me from going out for runs until yesterday.

Three weeks from now.

Wow. A quarter of our time was already gone, four days of it being completely useless.

Making a lot of headway, huh?

Anyway, now we were at the airport, so at least we didn't have to feel like we were wasting time anymore. We took our time packing our bags yesterday. Nothing better to do, anyway. I also went out and bought a new pair of shoes. Just plain old tennis shoes. They won't help if I have to go all supersonic again, but at least they'll keep my feet protected from sticks and rocks and stuff.

Tails still seemed just a little less keen about talking to me. I guess I could've been imagining it, but I don't think I was. He'd answer pleasantly enough if I asked him something, and he'd have a conversation with me… but only if I was the one to start it.

I knew it was because I wouldn't let him take us in the water to escape those robots. And I knew I had probably hurt his feelings a little.

I _didn't _know that my distrust towards my friend was going to come back and bite me in the ass later_. _For those of you who believe in fate, if it's real, it sure has a cruel way of punishment.

I yawned, not from fatigue, but from boredom. All these security precautions were taking longer than the flight probably would.

"Sonic?"

I snapped my head to look at Tails. Admittedly, I forgot the little fox was even there half the time, so on the few occasions that he spoke, it came as a shock. "Yeah, Tails?"

"You don't think they would delay our flight, do ya?"

I studied his concerned expression for a moment, trying to figure out why he would think that. Then I noticed the large television on the wall in the background, several room-lengths away. There was a weather forecaster on the screen informing the airport's passengers, along with the rest of the district, that high winds were extremely likely all throughout the afternoon and evening and that they should stay indoors.

I remembered noticing that it had been gusty out a little before finding that second Chaos Emerald.

Opening my mouth, I looked back at Tails to answer his question as best as I could, but by then his attention was diverted back to the screen again. Mental shrug. I followed suit, waiting for the weatherman to finish his report.

"As of yet, no flights from the Central City Metropolitan Airport have been cancelled. Passengers are to expect a fair amount of turbulence. Unless weather conditions worsen within the next few hours, no evening flights will be cancelled. Afternoon flights are to continue as scheduled."

"Answer your question?" I asked.

"I think so," the fox said, not making eye contact with me. "It's just that our flight is at four-fifty, which is still the afternoon, but just barely… and we're going to be in the air for a long time, and…" There was a pause. Tails seemed to be battling himself, deciding whether or not to continue.

"What?" I encouraged him. He shook his head and waved away the subject with a quick flip of his hand.

Sometime during our flight later that afternoon, I would conclude to myself that he had dropped the matter because he didn't want to sound apprehensive in front of me. I didn't see what the big deal was. Whenever he was worried or anxious or upset about anything, he never hesitated to tell me. Why wouldn't he now? I had become more aware since he woke up that he wanted to stand on his _own _two feet, but that didn't mean he had to close himself off.

All the same, I would also conclude to myself on that flight that I was going to allow him to do what he wanted.

We finally got through all the annoying security checks: the metal detecting, the luggage-searching, the random frisking… though despite the fact that we were animals (I don't know, some people might find that suspicious) Tails and I didn't have to do that last part since we didn't wear clothes and therefore didn't have places to hide weapons. Phew.

Well, actually, we _did _have places to hide weapons if they were small enough, but for the sake of keeping things clean (including said weapons – heh – and the story's rating, cough, cough), let's… not go into that. Yeah.

Stop thinking dirty thoughts. I'm not hiding anything.

Tails tapped me on the shoulder. "We, um, still have two hours to kill," he said. We both looked around the airport for a moment. The floors and walls were white and the ceiling was a light grayish color. Sounded boring, but it actually worked for this place. Large, half-spherical lights hung from beams and gave the entire place a comfortable glow. I couldn't help thinking _mall_, though; the airport made a huge circle, like many malls do, and the restaurants reminded me of little department stores.

"Uh, did you hear me?" the fox asked. He sounded hesitant. I looked at him and waited a beat before answering.

"Yeah, I heard you."

Tails just kept walking forward, ears hanging forward a little more than usual.

Awkward silence initiated, I thought sourly. I ended it less than a minute later, though.

"Come on, bro, don't take it personally. I just don't like water, you know that."

Quick nod.

"Come on," I repeated pleasantly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We cool?"

Yup, that's my version of an apology for you. How sincere, eh? I can't help it. I'm not good at that kind of thing.

"Sure," I heard Tails mumble. He tried a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.

The next two hours were slightly more comfortable than the past four days had been, 'slightly' being the operative word. Still, at least it was something. We went and had lunch in a fast food restaurant and then walked around the airport, just taking it in. Neither of us had ever been in one before, and I had to admit that it was pretty neat. I would say that Tails still seemed sad, but every time a plane landed or took off, his perked-up ears and curious expression gave it away.

I knew he'd be fine.

By four-thirty, twenty minutes before our flight, we were sitting in two chairs at Gate 22, waiting for them to let us on the plane. Our hands were tired; at least a couple dozen people had asked us for signatures throughout the last few hours. Both of us would occasionally cast a glance out the huge windows. It was windy and extremely cloudy – you could hardly tell where in the sky the sun was – but it wasn't severe.

As we sat there, motionless and wordless, I got to thinking. Thinking about the severity of our situation. This wasn't another game with Eggman. This wasn't a robot like Zorro, whom we could run away from if we really needed a break. This was different.

This was life-and-death.

I wondered if the same thing had crossed Tails' mind. I wondered if he was afraid at all. I wondered if he wondered if _I _was afraid at all. I wondered if he wondered if I wondered if he was afraid at all. I wondered if he—

"Sonic, they're getting on the plane," Tails informed me, interrupting my train of thought. That was okay. Admittedly, my train of thought really wasn't progressing us much further.

Five minutes later, we were sitting at the very front of the plane, our stuff in the compartment above us. I don't think most of our fellow passengers realized _we _were on the same plane as them until they walked past our seats. Judging by the looks on their faces, they hadn't even noticed us at all. Probably because the airport was so crowded today, and because we were… well… a tad shorter than the average human.

I was right by the window, Tails was in the seat on my right. There were only two seats per row up here instead of the regular three. These were the bigger, more expensive seats.

Only the best for the local (national?) heroes.

A few minutes passed. There was a 'bing.' Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tails' ears perk up. I always found it sort of cute when they did that. Makes the kid look like a puppy dog or something.

If he ever heard me say that out loud…

Seconds later, a young female voice came through the speakers and asked everyone to please buckle their seatbelts. We could unbuckle after the plane was in the air. It wasn't too long after that when the plane began to move. Tails sat up and leaned forward a little so he could see out the window. The plane turned, and we could see the runway. Cool.

The buckle-your-seatbelt announcement was repeated. Added to it was a please-secure-your-luggage. It was time to go.

"Excited?" I asked, pulling my gaze away from the window and looking at Tails. He nodded. He was smiling, finally, but just a little.

"This thing goes a lot faster than the Tornado, I bet."

The plane finished its u-turn. We began to accelerate. For someone like Tails, who's used to heights, and someone like me, who's used to going extremely fast, you would think this would be boring. It wasn't. Both of us were leaning towards the window, watching the outside world whiz by in awe. Both of us were gripping our armrests.

I've never gone so fast and actually been able to… well… _see _it before. Trust me, it's very hard to try and sightsee when you're moving at mach one. It's like trying to drive and gaze out your side window at the same time, only waaay faster. Gotta keep your eyes on the road and all that.

Something happened. For a few seconds, I don't think either of us realized that the plane had gone airborne. When we're in the Tornado, it's easy to tell when we leave the ground; there's nothing blocking your view, so you can just glance down and see. Not to mention, the Tornado isn't nearly as smooth, so most of the time you feel it too. With _this, _though, the transition was barely noticeable.

We're on our way now. Our long journey begins…

Wow, that was cliché.

There was wind. They really should be more descriptive when they tell you to expect 'turbulence.' Feels more like an earthquake when it's rough enough. And on those few occasions where the plane dips down a little, it feels like your stomach's about to come flying out your mouth. I'm glad I don't get motion sickness.

A little while later, things calmed down again and we were told the worst of the weather was over. It was safe to unbuckle again. People began to sneak up front and get a better look at us. While the folks in Station Square were pretty familiar with us, a lot of Central City dwellers had never seen us up close. At one point, a teenage girl shyly approached and said hi, then asked if she could hug me. Of course, I gladly complied. She ran back to her seat a few rows behind us, whispering under her breath, "Oh my gosh, I just hugged Sonic the hedgehog! Oh my _gosh_!"

"Wonder if I could build one of these planes," Tails said a few minutes later, I think more to himself than me. I couldn't tell by his tone if he was serious or not, so I just shrugged and looked at the window again.

"Tails… this is _really _neat," I said. There were mountains below us. I watched as we passed over them. I could see where the mountains changed to forest, and forest changed to field, and field changed to city. I saw roads. I saw the patterns that the entrance ramps and exit ramps formed on the expressways. I saw skyscrapers… and suddenly, they didn't seem to live up to their name anymore.

Tails leaned forward so he could see past me. He didn't say anything, but he definitely looked surprised.

If only the Tornado was strong enough to withstand altitudes like this.

For a good two hours, everything was calm and quiet. Tails eventually dozed off. I still couldn't peel my gaze from the window. Guess there's nothing wrong with that, though; it's definitely a more interesting sight than anything in here.

The plane jerked a couple times. Not violently. I looked at Tails. He was still sleeping soundly, but the move had caused his head to flop to the side. I tried not to chuckle.

For the entire flight so far, I had managed not to think about our little situation. With the poison, I mean. I had done good so far, but it was inevitable that I wouldn't make it the whole flight. When you're sitting in a chair for hours on end with nothing to do, you can't really help but think.

_I hate to admit this, but… I'm actually… a little worried._

_There. Said it._

_But who wouldn't be? I mean… I'm being poisoned. Right now. At this very second. There's something inside me that is killing me. And that's not even the worst part. The worst part is… I'm not the only one._

I looked at the slumbering Tails next to me.

_What if this doctor can't help us? True, it is a small chance. But it's also a fatal one. For once, I don't know what to do if this doesn't work. I need a plan B._

I heard myself begin to sigh, but it turned into a yawn. I closed my eyes, leaned my head back, relaxed. I didn't move at all for a few minutes.

_…Eh, screw plan Bs. I can think on my feet. Wouldn't be the first time. I'll find a cure before time runs out._

_I'm faster than you think, Eggman. Sneakers or no sneakers._

A few minutes passed. The plane jerked again. And again. Seizure?

"Unh…" Tails groaned, sitting up groggily. He rubbed his eyelids with his fingertips. "Are we there?"

"Nah. Not even a third of the way."

"Oh." I think he was planning on going back to sleep after hearing that, but he never had a chance.

The plane _jolted. _This time, it could be safely described as 'violent'. Tails was thrown out of his seat and onto the floor. He wasn't the only one.

Expected commotion followed. Everyone got loud very fast. People were hurriedly buckling their seatbelts and securing their items, some snatching carry-ons that had fallen out of their compartments and onto the floor.

It's sort of startling how fast people can go from a state of peace to a state of panic.

I helped Tails up and pulled him back into his seat. Needless to say, he was wide awake now. Someone came out of the pilot area with a megaphone.

"Attention. Excuse me… quiet down. Attention please. We would like to ask everyone to firmly fasten their seatbelts and remain calm. We're currently having technical problems with our speakers, which is why I'm making this announcement directly. For your own safety please do not unbuckle until we announce on the megaphone that you may do so."

The man spoke louder and less steadily with every word. It didn't take a genius to tell that his professional façade wasn't going to hold much longer. "I repeat, please keep your seatbelts tightly fastened. Secure all loose items. Turbulence is higher than expected."

"Is it?" I muttered to myself. I turned away from the announcement guy. "You okay, Tails?"

"I'm fine," he said, looking a little shaken but not physically harmed. "What's goin' on?"

"Looks like there's going to be a little _breeze _this evening."

I felt the plane take a sudden drop. Freefall can be a lot of fun sometimes. This wasn't one of those times. Everyone audibly gasped in unison. Under vastly different circumstances, it might have been funny.

Announcement Guy fell on his cushions. Once again, I found myself trying not to laugh.

"Why'd it do that?" Tails asked me. (I'm pretty sure he was referring to the plane, not Announcement Guy.) He seemed concerned, but not frantic like everyone else.

"You tell me," I said. "Technicalities are your forte, not mine."

"I don't know! Maybe it was because of the—" BOOM. I never found out what the last word of that sentence was going to be, but 'wind' was probably a safe bet.

"_Lightning!_" He shrieked. All past bitterness stripped away, he reached over and clutched my arm like his life depended on it, eyes squeezed shut tight.

I was beginning to feel like I was the only person on the plane with any amount of self-control.

"Tails… Tails, put yourself back together, bro," I said reassuringly. "We're still in the air. It's just a storm. It'll pass. These guys know what they're doin'."

"How come they didn't know about _this _then? Why didn't they delay the flight?"

"Maybe they thought it'd pass by now or something – I don't know. These things happen occasionally. Now's not a good time for questions, though."

"Yeah? I guess we ask questions after we've _drowned,_ then!"

I just stared at him for a moment, then terrible, terrible realization struck. I slowly turned and looked out the window.

We were over the ocean. If we _did _fall… we wouldn't just hit the ground and die on impact. We would drown and suffocate… slowly and torturously…

Optimistic thinking. Always makes the day a little brighter. Try it some time.

I closed my eyes, forcing the nausea away. "Panicking will do nothing." Don't ask me if I was telling that to Tails or myself. I couldn't tell you.

Remember when I said that how I treated Tails the other day was going to come back and bite me? Now you understand.

There was a burst of wind that slammed against the plane so hard I swore I could feel it in my bones. Equilibrium was history. The plane plunged again, and it didn't come right back up this time. Tails squeezed my arm tighter. My hand found one of his arms and I did the same, not only to attempt a silent reassurance, but because I was scared out of my mind too.

If the atmosphere earlier was uncontrolled, then this was absolutely and utterly chaotic. Dozens of piercing screams clashed with each other in the air as we descended. Everyone knew, even if only by instinct, that it was over.

"_Sooonnniiiiiccccc!_" I don't know where the scream came from, but it tore at my insides. My stomach tightened and for the first time in ages, I felt fear - genuine, undeniable, uncontrollable fear. There was about a 99 percent chance that I was going to drown. My best friend was going to drown. _Everyone _on this plane, in a flash, had had their fate decided for them.

Over all the rest, Tails' scream was the most prominent, and I knew it wasn't just because he was seated next to me.

We were nose-diving downward, caught in the middle of both of our greatest fears. Running away from those robots the other day, I remember thinking we were lucky that nature seemed to be on our side. 'Seemed to be' is the operative phrase here, for anyone who's wondering.

Nothing was on our side. Right now everyone and everything wanted us dead.


	10. Chapter 10: Murphy's Law

CHAPTER 10: Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law states that anything bad that can happen, _will _happen, and at the worst possible time.

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Emergency lights flashed red throughout the plane.

"Sonic! We gotta get to the very front! Maybe I can regain control of this thing!" Tails shouted at me over the commotion.

I hopped over Tails, hanging onto his chair with one hand. With the other, I grabbed the door separating us from the pilot's room. Locked, of course, but I had to try.

I wondered if I could pull off a spindash. The plane was sort of wobbling as it fell, but it wasn't out of control. I risked letting go of the chair. Nothing dramatic happened, so I crouched down on the floor and began to spin.

I felt myself shift backwards, uncurled, caught myself. Too unstable for ground spin dashing. I jumped in the air and hurtled myself at the barrier separating us from the pilot's room, hoping it would collapse. No luck. I heard myself grunt loudly as I slammed against it and fell to the ground.

No time to recover. I pushed myself up with my hands, leapt, and tried again.

"Not enough momentum!" Tails yelled after I failed a second time. He glanced out the window. "We have about twenty seconds to work with!"

That meant he could see the ground now, even through the clouds. Not good. I nodded and then back-flipped, landing in the middle area of the plane. People were frantically shouting my name. They were depending on me. They were putting their faith in me. I couldn't fail them.

I accelerated. Fast. I launched myself into the air, throwing all my weight towards my target and holding nothing back. If this didn't work, I was going to end up with a lot of broken bones…

I heard a loud crash just as I blasted through the door. It was way too loud for it to have been me and only me. I knew it was thunder. Very, very close thunder. Lightning must have accompanied it, I knew, but with the flashing emergency lights in the plane it was impossible to tell.

I turned to yell for Tails, but he was already there next to me, twirling his namesakes and bolting for the controls. "Move!" He yelled to the stunned pilot, whose mind seemed to be on autopilot (pun completely intended). He did, absentmindedly exiting the control area through the hole I made, and Tails' hands began moving so fast over the control panel that my eyes couldn't follow.

There was nothing else I could do now. I raced back out the now-nonexistent door and peeked out the window, scared to see how close to ground level we were.

Storms and metal don't mix.

I was just in time to see lightning strike the wing. I was thrown back, or maybe it was a reflexive jump. Either way, I landed on the ground in the aisle. Heart pounding, I scrambled back into the pilot room – there was no way Tails would be able to fix things now. There was no way _anybody _could fix things now.

I heard screams. I heard luggage falling. The plane was spiraling beyond control.

"Sonic, watch out!" Tails hollered frantically. He was holding onto – no, _clinging _onto – a lever for dear life. I dove forward and to my left, landing on the control panel and grabbing whatever I could. A metal laptop case flew past and crashed through the window.

For a moment, I don't think either of us realized what an opening we had… literally and figuratively.

"I thought that was supposed to be bulletproof!"

I would have shrugged. "Guess it's not suitcase-proof!"

"We can get out!" Tails exclaimed.

I looked over my shoulder. He read my mind.

"Sonic, there's no way to save them! Staying here isn't gonna change that!"

He was right. Staying here would be suicide. "Let's get out of here!"

Tails grabbed one of my hands with both of his and pulled me into the air. We made it out just in time.

There was an enormous, terrible splash below us…

Then… there was an explosion…

I felt something happen inside. It reminded me of what I felt like after that little boy went limp in our arms over half a year ago, not long before we defeated Zorro. The authorities had arrived and rushed him off to the hospital… but we all pretty much knew he wasn't going to make it.

My eyes closed, and I felt tears sting the back of my lids. _If we ever make it out of this… I swear… the first thing I'm going to do is find out if that boy made it._

_I never even knew the poor kid's name._

"Sonic… I can't keep us up here much longer…" Tails said, reminding me of the problem at hand. We slowly began to drop towards the water. I knew his tails were still having trouble handling the strain of flying.

Once again: remember how I said fate was going to come back and kick me and all that?

"Wh-what? Are you sure?"

"I'll try to keep us up here as long as I can, but it's starting to feel really uncomfortable…"

"Okay… you're doing fine, just keep it up, okay?"

"I'll do what I can."

I looked down at the water. It was thrashing around wildly. I didn't want to know what it would be like if we landed in it.

Another problem occurred to me: how the heck were we supposed to get out of here? We were stranded in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight for hundreds of miles. Did we just stay here until some ship appeared, or… until we died?

I felt a twinge of pain on the end of one of my quills. I reached up and grabbed it, feeling a little bit of blood run onto my hand. I didn't realize I'd hurt myself during all that chaos. I massaged the sore area.

Then it hit me. I still had my Chaos Emerald!

I reached beneath the injured quill and pulled out a shining gem. Tails saw it. He gasped. "Sonic, you brought yours!"

"Yeah! I completely forgot about it. Where's yours?"

His ears slumped. "I threw it in the Tornado before we left," he said glumly. "Is one enough to help us out?"

I grinned. "Tails, that's _perfect!_ Hey, do you still have that com-link around your wrist?"

He let go with one hand to check. "Yup!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. Relief is a sweet, sweet feeling. "Contact Amy right now!"

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"Chao?"

"It's okay, Cheese. I'm fine," Cream said unconvincingly. The chao flew along next to her, cocking his head.

"Sorry. I'm just worried about Sonic, that's all. I haven't seen him since we got down from that scary city. I hope he found Tails."

"Chao…"

"Yeah, you're right, they're probably fine. They're the good guys. They _always _beat Eggman." The girl smiled, having convinced herself with her own words.

The two of them arrived at Amy's house. Cream gently knocked on the door. After a few moments, it was slowly opened, revealing a stressed-looking Amy.

"Oh, hey, Cream," Amy greeted, offering what she probably hoped was a believable smile. It wasn't happening.

"Good evening, Amy, how are you?" The rabbit asked politely.

A shrug and a mumble. The hedgehog moved aside and swung the door open all the way – a silent invitation for Cream to come on in. She did, and they both sat on the sofa. Cheese plopped down between them.

Silence followed. After a few moments, Cream looked up at her friend and said, "I'm worried about them, too. But you know Sonic always makes it out of these things. Maybe we should have a little more faith in him."

"I do have faith in him!" Amy said, just a tad bit faster than necessary. She took a deep breath, calmed down, recovered. "It's just… he's not immortal. Things can happen, you know? Things that even he can't control."

"Sonic _always _knows what to do," Cream said. "He knows how to handle any problem."

Ah, six-year-old naivety. What Amy wouldn't give to have those days back. In order to humor her friend, though, she nodded and forced a look of gratitude. "Yeah, I suppose you're right, Cream."

The young rabbit beamed. "You'll see."

"Hey, do you hear something?"

Cream's long, peach-colored ears rose a little higher. There was a faint, muffled beeping sound, not unlike a watch alarm. The two of them stood to go find its source, but Cheese was way ahead of them.

"Chao!" Cheese chirped happily from Amy's storage closet. Seconds later he emerged, holding a com-link in both hands. Perplexed, Amy took the hi-tech walkie-talkie and strapped it onto her wrist.

"Amy here."

"It's Tails! We need your help!"

Amy and Cream exchanged excited glances. "Tails, you're okay?" The rabbit said, pulling Amy's wrist closer so she could speak into the com-link. Then she asked the million-dollar question: "Is Sonic with you?"

"Yeah, I'm hanging onto him right now!"

"Thank goodness…" Amy sighed. "Well, what do you guys need?"

"We need you to – workshop – put the Tornado – soon – you can."

"Uh, I can't hear you, Tails!"

"Sorry, it's really stormy!" The fox said, speaking louder now. "Go to the workshop and put the Tornado on autopilot as soon as you can."

"What's _that _going to do? What's going on over there?"

"Uh, this is kind of urgent."

"Sorry! I'm on it right now!"

"Thanks," Tails said, and closed the connection.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour passed, or at least that's what it felt like to me. It probably wasn't really that long. The storm was _finally_ beginning to ease up a bit. Tails was moaning from discomfort.

"Sonic, my tails are cramping up… I have to drop or I'm just going to injure them more!"

"You can't drop!" I said. I could feel my heart rate quicken.

"The water's calmer now," he said through breaths. "I can keep us afloat! I can swim fine, but my tails just need a break…"

Déjà vu.

I didn't want to give him a hard time again, though. Not like last time. He was hurting too much.

I felt us descend, and the moment I did, I began to have second thoughts. "H-hey, Tails, how long will it take for the Tornado to get here on autopilot? I mean, the Chaos Emeralds are powerful, so since mine is attracting the one in the Tornado, it should be here any minute, right?"

"Sonic, it's hundreds of miles away…"

"So you're_ sure _you can't—"

"_Sonic…_"

I took in a breath and forced myself to shut up. _Oh, man. Please don't do this to me. PLEASE don't do this to me. I can't take this…_

I felt the coldness surround me and barely suppressed a scream. Tails sighed with relief and stopped spinning. Somehow my eyes wound up very tightly shut, though I didn't remember closing them.

Even though Tails was holding onto me securely, I couldn't shake the tension. There was nothing below me. No foothold. The only thing that seemed to exist was the freezing water that was slowly penetrating my fur and turning my skin to ice…

I bit my lip. What if I went under? What if the storm started up again, and twenty-foot waves started throwing us around? What if I started drowning… and I tried to inhale… and that terrible water flooded my lungs and suffocated me and _choked _me…

If Tails' grip slipped even an inch, I was gonna lose it… Even though logic told me that losing it would be the worst possible thing to do, I knew I wouldn't be able to help it… not in this situation…

A few minutes passed. I didn't move or speak. I was… I was _petrified! _I had never been this scared in my life!

"Um, Sonic, are you still with me here?"

I snapped my eyes open. Aside from the obvious concern on his face, Tails looked incredibly relaxed. I couldn't grasp that. How could _any_body stand something like this!?

"Good, I thought you passed out or something," the fox said, the corners of his mouth hinting a smile. "You, uh, gonna survive?"

I opened my mouth, trying to speak. I couldn't. I couldn't form any words. Finally, I settled for a single nod.

"You're hurting me a little bit."

Snapping myself out of it, I looked to see what he meant. A fistful of thick fur was in my left hand, and I realized with a start that I was beginning to pull it out. I lessened the strength of my grip ever so slightly and tried to apologize, but I _still _couldn't talk. I think Tails must've been able to read my expression, though, 'cause he said, "Don't worry about it."

_Work, damn mouth!_

"Why're you so nervous? It's just water," Tails said. "It hasn't swallowed you up yet, has it?"

Single head shake. I began to feel a little bad. Ashamed, even. This wasn't like me and I knew it. I was only making things more difficult and hurting Tails. And embarrassing the crap out of myself. That too.

He smiled sympathetically. "Just calm down. I won't let ya go under."

I remembered what had happened a few days ago when we were escaping those robots. I'd flatly refused to go into the water, despite how much Tails wanted me to believe in him.

I was going to believe in him this time.

My heart was still pounding and my breathing was still way too fast, but I managed to loosen my grip and settle down a little. Things immediately got easier.

"There you go," Tails reassured. I made eye contact with him then. He was trying really, _really _hard to keep me calm and to keep my trust.

For about half a minute, I opened and closed my mouth, trying to think of something to say. This was _way _awkward. I hated showing fear in front of other people, even my best friend. I don't know why. Maybe it's a pride thing, since a lot of people see me as a hero or look up to me. Maybe it's because I don't want others to be worried about me.

Finally, my mouth started working again. I hate to admit it, but I could hear the quiver in my own voice when I spoke. And I know it wasn't just from being cold. "So, uh, how're – how're your tails doing?"

Tails blinked and gave me a look that made me wonder if I'd just turned pink or something. "Well… they're a little sore," he said slowly. "I have to use them to keep us balanced since I'm holding onto you with my arms, but it's a lot easier than spinning them to fly."

"That's good."

"Yeah," he said, and blinked again.

"What?"

"You're… I don't know… you're not scared anymore."

I actually grinned. "Wow, I'm doing that good of a job of hiding it?"

Tails laughed, albeit a bit nervously. I think I threw him off for a second there. Briefly, I wondered what his reaction would be if I pulled away from him and started treading water.

…

No, I'm not going to try it!

"Well, to be honest…" Tails trailed off and returned the grin.

"No, don't be honest," I told him.

"Heh, okay. In that case, yes, you're doing an _excellent _job of hiding it!"

I rolled my eyes. If nothing else, the tension in the atmosphere was beginning to diminish. _Just don't look at the water._

"So, uh, how long _do _you think it'll take for the Tornado to get here?" I asked. In case you need your memory refreshed, Chaos Emeralds attract each other, which is why we had Amy put the Tornado in autopilot mode. Since I have an Emerald and there's another one in the Tornado, it should fly right to us because of the attraction.

I know what you're going to say next. There are five more Emeralds and it could very well attract one of them instead. Not likely. My Chaos Emerald and the one in the plane are better adapted to each other since they were close together before we left.

Tails thought. "The Tornado is slower than the plane we were on a little while ago, but with a Chaos Emerald in it, it's probably going a lot faster than its normal speed. I'd say another hour or so."

"Another _hour? _How long have we been in the water?"

"Probably less than fifteen minutes," Tails said, a what-can-ya-do expression on his face.

"Gee, time goes by so fast when you're having fun…"

"Aw, come on, you can handle this."

Holy crap. That sounded just like me.

"You've taken on everything else. And think about it: if worse comes to worse, I can probably get myself back in the air again. Won't be easy, but…"

"Nah, you won't have to," I told him. "Worse won't come to worse. I know you'll keep me above the water."

Tails beamed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour passed. I was still a little on-edge, but overall it was a lot easier than the first ten minutes were. And… believe it or not… I was starting to realize that water really wasn't as bad as I thought it was. That's not to say I _liked _it. Not in any sense of the word. But… I hated it just a _tad _less.

Tails, who'd had no choice but to tread water the entire time, was getting tired. I could tell. I wished I could do something to help, but I'm about as useful as broken flashlight when it comes to water. He wasn't letting the fatigue or the water dampen his mood, though, so things were goin' okay.

"Sonic, I feel my com-link vibrating. Mind if I let go with one arm for a sec?" He said.

"Sure," my voice answered for me, but my head had different ideas. _Cool it, now…_

Tails began shifting his position. I felt myself tighten and directed my gaze skyward. If I looked at the water, I'd probably freak out. He tightened his grip and then raised one arm above the water. "Amy again," he said to me before speaking into it. "What's up?"

"I'm worried about you guys! Please just tell us what's going on!"

"Sorry, Amy. I can't stay on for too long or Sonic's gonna pass out—"

"Will not!"

"—but I promise we'll explain everything when we get back, okay? We're just in a pinch right now, but don't worry."

"When are you coming back?" We heard Cream ask.

"As soon as we can. Probably a few hours."

Tails didn't wait for them to ask more questions. He pushed the 'off' button with his nose and closed the connection.

"A few hours?" I repeated. "What about Michaels?"

"The Tornado's your plane. You know it can't stay in the air for that long without a break, so we have to go back. If we kept going, we'd have to go over the rest of the ocean, and it's not like we can land it in the water to take a break."

"Yeah, we can!" I said, a mental light bulb turning on. "Didn't you add some Submarine Mode ability to this thing a few years back? Remember? You used it a few days before Eggman captured you and put that chip in your arm?"

Tails' light bulb seemed to flicker for a few seconds, but finally turned on as realization struck. "Yeah, you're absolutely right! When Eggman sent Hydro at us!" He paused. His happy expression didn't change, but his eyes did. "Wow… don't you miss those days, Sonic?"

"The days when it was all simple and predictable?" I said. "You know me better than that."

I didn't miss those days. I was content with _these _days. Maybe some people would think this is weird, but I _like _dangerous situations. Life is more exciting and more, well, unpredictable. Not to mention, I'm not one to look back on things. It's not like you can relive those memories, no matter how much you think about them. Living in the past just makes you miss out on what really matters – the present. Time's not gonna wait for you.

"Yeah, I do," Tails agreed. "Should've figured you'd say something like that."

I smiled, again remembering what Tails used to be like back in 'those days.' "You know, Tails, you've grown up a lot since then," I said simply.

He smiled. "Thanks!"

I would've shrugged, but that would be sort of hard to do given the circumstances. "Eh, I think I'm the one who should be saying thanks. If it weren't for you, I'd be, well…" I looked down at the water to get my point across, then realized what I'd done and glanced at it again. It wasn't nearly as intimidating as it had been an hour and a half ago.

All the sudden, we both fell silent. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tails' ears perk up. There was a buzzing sound that could just barely be heard over the wind. I looked at Tails and he looked at me.

"Do you hear it too?" He asked. I nodded and grinned. The Tornado was finally here.


	11. Chapter 11: The Journey to Australia

**I sort of owe you all an apology for taking three weeks with this chapter. I can justify it somewhat, though: look at the size of this thing! Nearly six thousand words, and fifteen pages in Microsoft Word. Enjoy!**

CHAPTER 11: The Journey to Australia

xxx

First person – Sonic.

xxx

In a matter of minutes, we could see the blue biplane coming towards us. It was a huge source of relief. It began to slow, probably due to the Chaos Emerald in it, but it was still coming at an exceptionally fast pace.

"Tails, it _is _going to stop before it hits us, right?"

Answering of that question was quickly made unnecessary. The bottom of the plane skimmed the water for a few seconds, and as gravity finished pulling it down, a huge splash erupted and hit us both in the face before we realized what was happening.

Well, I guess it beats the alternative.

I wiped the water out of my eyes. I could hear Tails coughing and laughing at the same time, and I found myself doing the same. Miraculously, the plane hadn't flipped upon hitting the water. It must have slowed down enough first.

"Looks like it switched to Sub Mode automatically when it hit the water!" Tails said. Good thing it did, too. We'd had enough problems already. "C'mon, Sonic!" The fox continued happily, grabbing me under the arms and lifting me into the air.

"Hey, why don't you let me pilot?" I offered. "You could use a rest after keeping us both above the water for so long."

Tails opened his mouth to protest, but stopped short. "Ah, who am I kidding? I'm beat."

I chuckled. "I would be, too."

Tails released me into the pilot's seat, then dropped in behind me. I heard his belt click as he hooked up, and did the same. I cast a glance at the water as I took off.

I couldn't deny that I was thrilled to be on something solid again.

"So we'll fly for a while, then transform it to Sub Mode so we can rest it on the water, then keep going?" I asked him.

"Yeah. We'll have to stop more than once; it'll probably take all night to get there, if not more, unfortunately."

"Beats the alternative. At least we're not stuck here anymore."

The Tornado was built for battle more than transportation. It could fly for a good few hours, but after that the engine would start to heat up. Since we had two thirds of an ocean to cross, we'd have to make sure to pay attention so we didn't wind up stranding ourselves again.

The flight was a little rough at first, seeing as how I hadn't piloted the plane (my own plane, nonetheless) for at least several months. Uh, excluding the six months we were knocked out, thank you. But I eventually got the feel for it again. By the time half an hour had passed, the storm had been reduced to gentle sprinkle. Things were quiet, and the water was calm. The sun was completely set.

I don't know why or how it occurred to me, but it did. "Don't you think we should tell Amy and Cream we're going to be… er… a few days late?"

Tails hesitated, his mind on the same frequency as mine. "Oh… that's right. We told them we'd be back later tonight, didn't we?"

"Yeah. Save me the punishment of Amy's hammer and contact them, will you?"

"Sure thing," Tails replied. I heard a few beeps and then a high-pitched, feminine yelp. I rolled my eyes.

Tails began to respond. "Uh, hey Amy—"

"Is that how you greet everyone?" I interrupted in reference to Amy's shriek, talking loudly enough for her to hear me through Tails' communicator.

"Very funny, blue boy!" She quipped.

Blue boy? She seriously just said that? Are _my _insults that lame!?

"_Clever, _Amy," I said dryly. "If I ever meet someone else who's blue, you_ have _to let me steal that one."

"Sorry, it's copyrighted," she retorted, and I could hear the irritation in her voice. I thought there was a trace of humor there, though. "Now, are you guys going to tell me what's going on or am I going to have to chase you around when you return, Sonic?"

Mental shudder.

Tails took over the conversation from there, sounding quite irritated himself. "Did Cream tell you we were poisoned?"

Even though there was a bit of static, I could still hear Amy's tone change completely. "Yes… I heard," she said. Judging by the sudden sadness in her voice – sadness that had not been there before – she had either forgotten about it or had been trying hard not to think about it. The latter of the two seemed more likely. "Is everything okay?"

"Sonic's fine, if that's what you're wondering," Tails informed her, an edge to his almost-friendly voice. I didn't blame him a bit. "Our…" He stopped, sighed sorrowfully, and continued. "Our passenger plane crashed."

Succinctly explained.

I heard a high-pitched gasp that was probably Cream's. There was a long minute of awkward, stunned stillness. The atmosphere itself seemed to hesitate. "…You're kidding," Amy finally said.

Tails and I both kept quiet for a moment, and probably appropriately so. Looking back, I think the silence was out of respect and sorrow for all the people on that plane.

Clearing his throat, Tails explained, "That's why we needed the Tornado. We had to stay above water until it got here on autopilot. Now, we're making our way across the ocean. It'll just take longer than it would have if… well, you get it."

"What… what happened to everybody else?" Cream asked, sounding unsure and timid. Judging by the strain in his voice, Tails didn't want to answer that. But he did.

"…They weren't so lucky. We… tried to save them. Sonic broke down the door to the pilot's room and I tried to get the plane under control again, but the wing got damaged and we were getting too close the ground and…"

"Wait, how did you get out then?" Amy asked, disbelief evident in her tone.

"A hole in the window. It was either go down with the plane or save ourselves while we could." Tails was forced to pause again, because his voice broke. "Still doesn't feel right that we survived and they didn't, though."

"Oh, Tails," Amy said, trying to empathize. "It's not your guys' faults! I would've done the same thing."

I smiled a little at Amy's words. She was a little annoying, to put it lightly… but she had a good head on her shoulders. Her concern for her friends was definitely a redeeming quality.

I decided to put myself back into the conversation. "I have to agree with her on that. There would've been no point in staying behind."

I had learned the best I could how to deal with things like this. It wasn't the first time it happened. If there was a way to change things, I would… but that's just the thing: there's not. And dwelling on what could have been different is only going to waste time that you _could _be using to prevent it from happening again.

You've got to let it go and keep movin' forward. How else can it work? I knew when I realized how much people_ depended_ on me that things like this would happen… and I just learned to focus on the successes. On all the people who still get to live their _life _because of something I did.

…Doesn't stop me from wishing they could have made it somehow. I betcha at least one of them had a friend or relative in another country who was looking forward to seeing them. Now… they'll never see each other again.

"So… do you have all the explanation you need now?" Tails asked after a moment. Amy's voice just reached a whisper.

"Yes. Thanks, Tails." She closed the connection.

I continued flying the plane for somewhere around an hour. Most of the time, we were quiet. Now that we weren't frantically fighting to keep ourselves alive, what had occurred a few hours ago was really sinking in.

"We should stop," Tails said. "This thing already flew on autopilot for quite a while before you started piloting. We don't want to overheat it."

I nodded and began to descend. Tails instructed me on how and when to switch to Submarine mode. Of course, it could switch automatically, but doing it manually was safer. Within a few more minutes, I followed Tails' guide and we landed smoothly on the water's surface. "How long before we keep going?"

"Hm, half an hour or so."

This was going to be a long, long night.

Minutes passed. I tried to think of a way to strike up a conversation. For quite a while, nothing came to me. I wished there was something to do. Earlier, I had broke a personal record as far as fear goes. Now, I think I was breaking another one: boredom level. At one point, I tried to sleep, but the idea that I would have to wake up in a few minutes to keep piloting kept me awake. It wasn't worth it.

After half an hour of utter silence, we took to the air again.

"Hey Tails," I finally said, remembering something I had wanted to ask earlier.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you happened to have any extra communicators in here. It'd probably be a good idea for me to wear one too, that way I'm not always using yours," I suggested. "Not to mention, if we ever need to split up, we'll still be able to talk."

"Yeah. Check the compartment to the right of the control panel! There should be two in there."

I controlled the plane with my left hand and reached over to open the compartment in question. Two items fell into my hands, but they weren't the ones I expected.

"Shoes!" I exclaimed, probably sounding like an excited little toddler.

Well, an excited little toddler who's gone through puberty. But you catch my drift.

"Oh, man!" Tails said, bringing a palm to his forehead. "It skipped my mind! I'm sorry, Sonic, I meant to give those to you the day before we got on the plane!"

"Better late than never, bro, better late than never!" I assured. I bent down and began to put them on. "But how?"

"I used that extra time we had for more than research, you know. I just happened to be looking for something in the storage closet and came across these! They're one of your old pairs, but I designed a new rubber coating that should make them as good as new."

I just shook my head, astounded. "Thank you!"

"No problem!" Tails said with a delighted chuckle. "Hopefully you'll be able to run at full speed again without hurting your feet now."

"If nothing else, they'll at least help!" I put the shoes on eagerly. They fit a bit tight, but they'd feel comfortable after I broke them in again. "They look snazzy, too!" The shoes weren't exactly identical to my normal ones. They still had the white stripe going across the middle, but instead of the rest of them being red, they were a vibrant blue. Almost like me, except a little lighter.

"Great!" I didn't need to turn around and look to know he was smiling.

I reached into the compartment again, searching it for the item I had originally intended to find. I found it and strapped it around my wrist. Then realization dawned and I stuck my hand in again. Nothing else was there.

"Hey Tails, didn't you say there were two communicators?" I asked, leaning down to peer into the compartment.

"Uh-huh. Did you find them?"

"Only one. What happened to the other one?"

"Good question. Maybe I left it laying around somewhere."

I shrugged, though he couldn't see it around the back of my seat. Purpose defeated. _I don't know… for some reason, that doesn't sit right._ It was instinct alone that made me think that, but it proved trustworthy.

It didn't take long for it to hit me. Not long at all. I remembered the Frisbee robots chasing us and put two and two together.

"Eggman was trying to stop us," I muttered. I felt my eyebrows crease downward.

"Huh?"

"Those disc-shaped robots," I said. "Eggman knew we planned to find a cure overseas. He used those robots to try and stop us… because he's been _listening!_"

With his sharp mind, Tails worked it out just as quickly as I had. "He has the other communicator! He must've configured it so he could hear us, even when we're not using ours! Sonic, he could still be after us!"

I felt tense. Tense and angry. Not only had he stolen the communicator _and _used it to keep tabs on us… but knowing him, he'd probably listened in on every private conversation Tails and I had had since then! I cupped my chin with one hand, thinking. "No… this might be a good thing. If he's concerned about us finding an antidote, then that means there must _be _an antidote!"

"We were pretty sure of that much already, though. If he's listening in right now, he probably already figured out where we are and where we're headed. Those robots were supersonic, weren't they? It wouldn't be too hard for them to catch us."

"Eggman would sure like that, wouldn't he?" I said smugly. With some form of protection over my feet now, I knew I could outrun them.

_Who cares if they're supersonic? I'm still faster!_

"The thing is, though, is if they get to us while we're still flying above the water, they could take down the Tornado! Then we'd be stranded."

"Don't be so optimistic," I quipped, rolling my eyes.

"Sonic, I'm just trying to think realistically," Tails said, looking mildly offended. "Shouldn't we have a plan if that does happen? Or if they show up outside Doctor Michael's window?"

I put the Tornado on autopilot and grabbed hold of the two Chaos Emeralds we had. I closed my eyes and began to absorb their energy, not only to prove to Tails that we had enough of an advantage to beat those robots, but just for the sheer hell of it.

The warm but shocking energy coursed through every vein in my body, heating my torso and arms and legs. It went beyond that, though; I felt the raw power reach all the way to the ends of my quills and fingertips. For a few more seconds, I just focused on that; on the unique and remarkable experience of Chaos transformation. It had been a while since I'd gotten to do this, and I've found over the years that I really like it.

Even though it was only two Emeralds, it was still enough to have an effect. With the transition from normal to energized complete, I found myself able to rise out of the plane and drift along with it without difficulty.

"Hmph, you win," Tails said, folding his arms across his chest childishly. I had to grin. Don't get me wrong, it's great to watch him grow up, but it's nice to see him act like a kid once in a while.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took virtually all night for us to finish our voyage. We would have left the Tornado on autopilot if the wind hadn't picked up, but it had. Tails and I took turns piloting, but ultimately I ended up behind the controls, since Tails fell asleep at about one in the morning.

As land came into view, I glanced at the digital clock next to the Tornado's controls. Two forty-two. I was exhausted. I wanted so badly to go find a hotel after we landed and actually get some _sleep, _and I knew Tails would like that too – but we couldn't. Not with time running so short.

This was so weird, being out on a mission to save myself. Almost like it wasn't supposed to be that way. I couldn't help but wonder if there was something _better_ I could be doing, like helping someone _else _in trouble, someone aside from myself.

And then Tails stirred behind me.

_That, right there, is the reason I'm doing this. I don't need to make it. I just want him to._

I gradually lowered the plane towards land, which was significantly closer now, but my mind continued to wander. It occurred to me that maybe it _should _matter more whether or not I survive this – not just for my own sake, but for all the people who needed me. If I left, who would stop Eggman? Who would keep him from taking over and capturing people and hurting people? Not Knuckles; he had the Master Emerald to take care of. And – despite how I act about it – I do respect that. Tails? He was certainly capable of it. But to have to do that alone, after his big bro left… was he capable of _that_?

I cut across my own inner conversation. Putting this much thought into things wasn't normal for me, and it was literally making my head hurt. Or had I had that headache all night? I didn't know – I hadn't been paying much attention.

We were close enough for me to see the neon lights. I glanced over my shoulder briefly. Time to wake Tails.

"Hey, man," I said before turning back around. "We made it. Wake up."

"Mph." Typical response.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Hn?"

I switched to autopilot so that I could direct my attention towards Tails rather than the plane. The wind wasn't as strong near land, so it probably wasn't too risky. "C'mon, Tails, get your face out of your arm and talk to me."

He complied with the latter part of that request. "Ftill drk aut, Fonic."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Okay, I'll just leave you here in the Tornado and you can explore Australia on your own…"

"M'kay."

Wow, he was really out of it. The kid _had _been tired. I began to feel a little bad for making him do all the work in the water earlier. "C'mon, Tails," I said again, more gently this time. "It's time to wake up. You've slept for a long time."

Finally, he lifted his head up to look at me. Whether or not he was actually conscious, I didn't know. I tried talking to him again anyway. "Now then, what did you say before?"

"I said, 'it's still dark out, Sonic,'" Tails repeated, looking a little irritated. Then, as he took in his surroundings, realization struck. "Oh."

"Uh-huh," I grinned.

"How long was—"

"Almost two hours," I answered. "Don't worry about it."

"Aw, sorry Sonic," he said anyway. "I didn't mean to make you do all the work the rest of the time." I smiled at him. It amazed me how naturally generous he could be. He'd saved my life earlier, physically draining himself in the process, and here he still felt he should have done some of the piloting.

"Your body needed the break. You had to put up with a lot during that storm earlier," I assured him.

"How're you?"

"I'm fine," I replied. "Just a little tired. Don't worry about me."

"The appointment… when is our appointment, Sonic?"

"About five hours. It's at eight. We'll need every bit of that time, though, 'cause I have no idea how to get to where we're going."

Tails contemplated this, pushing himself to a sitting position. "What if we looked for the airport we were supposed to arrive at? Do you know where to go from there?"

"I have a better idea, yeah," I said. I turned away from Tails momentarily to see where we were. We'd be landing within the next few minutes. "It's about time to let the Tornado rest, though. We can take to the skies again after that and do most of our traveling from there. Easier."

"Yeah," Tails agreed. "We'll be able to see more from up high. Maybe even the airport, if we're close enough. The thing is about that, though, is that we could be three miles away…"

"Or 300."

"Right. We'll have to ask for directions. Or…" he trailed off, thinking over whatever idea he had. "Or we could just ask for directions right to Doctor Michael's office. If he's renowned back home, he's bound to be renowned here, too."

"Let's give it a whirl," I said. We exchanged thumbs-up and I turned back around. I could make out the details of buildings, now. I squinted, searching for a flat, open area to land. "Hey, Tails?"

"Hm?"

"I'm not sure if I still know how to land. Mind refreshing my memory?" Honestly, I don't know why I still call it 'my plane.' It belongs more to Tails than it does to me, really. I couldn't remember the last time I'd flown it before today.

He chuckled. "Here, why don't you just let me do it?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, we were in the middle of a populated Australian city. I wasn't sure what to think. I had been to a lot of places in my life, but this, surprisingly, was not one of them. Probably something to do with the fact that it was surrounded by ocean, and that plane tickets were a fortune since this place was so far away. In spite of our literal deadly situation, my spirits were high. I loved going to places I'd never been – and with fifteen years of traveling on my belt, that was becoming a rarity. I would've covered a third of Australia by now if Tails weren't here.

And if we weren't looking for someone.

And if we weren't destined to die in a few weeks.

I turned to my friend. He was walking slowly next to me, arms crossed as he looked around. While I was happily absorbing the world around me, he was scrutinizing the details, seemingly trying to figure out where we were. "Well, Tails? What's on your mind?"

"I'm not sure," the fox said, still turning his head left and right. I looked around some more too, and noticed this time that there were very few people out. At first, that seemed strange; we were in an area with a lot of restaurants and stores. In fact, it looked like a touristy sort of place. Then I remembered that it was the middle of a night – on a weekday, no less – and it made more sense.

This city was very… red. That about describes it. The buildings, bricks, and roofs were all varying shades of crimson and brown. The roofs, I noticed, were very… different. The sides seemed to curve inward, and the tops were somewhat pointy. This sparked déjà vu, but I wasn't sure why.

"The buildings and the lights…" Tails continued, and I realized that there were, indeed, lights above us. Not street lamps or traffic lights, but decorative bulbs that reminded me of the lights on Christmas trees. "It looks like a Chinatown!"

So _that _was why it seemed familiar. Of course I had been to a Chinatown before. I remembered it being quite enjoyable, too, with the yummy orange chicken and rice, fortune cookies, and vivid surroundings. Suddenly, I wished we had time to stay here and enjoy ourselves a bit. Maybe hop onto one of those fancy rooftops and kick back, take it easy…

"Hey Sonic, I saw a hotel a little ways away when we were descending. Don't people at hotels usually know a thing or two about nearby cities and stuff?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Maybe we could talk to someone, or find an informational brochure. That wouldn't be too hard to find in a place like this, where there're undoubtedly so many tourists…"

I nodded, but I wasn't entirely paying attention. It hit me then – really hit me – that we might never have time to come back here and 'enjoy ourselves a bit.'

"Come on!" I said determinedly to Tails. I grabbed hold of his hand and started running towards the hotel in question.

_It's not over, Eggman. Nowhere near over._

I had almost let myself think we weren't going to make it. Not only just now, but on the plane earlier. And I realized… how _stupid _that notion was. Of course we would make it. I could run at eight hundred miles per hour; three weeks was more than enough time for me.

It only took a few minutes to get to the hotel Tails had seen. Average-looking might have been a good way to describe it, but it was a… _nice _average. Cream-colored walls, three stories, windows with blinds, and balconies. The outside gave the impression of a comfy and welcoming little place with nothing too fancy.

A grey-brown awning sat nicely above the double doors. As I opened them, a quiet bell rang, signaling our entrance.

In this particular case, the book could be judged by its cover. The inside looked like you'd expect it to after seeing the outside. The walls were a shade of ivory. The lobby had a fireplace and some neutral-colored furniture. Behind the desk, which was a little to the left of us, a young man with dusty blonde hair greeted us with a wave. "Hey there mates, what can I help you with?"

I had to grin. 'Mate.' I'd always thought the movies and television shows overused that word, made it cliché – but maybe I'd been wrong. Maybe it really _was _used that much. I nodded to return the greeting and walked up to the desk, Tails following behind me.

"Hi, there!" I said pleasantly. The young man beamed at me, seeming particularly thrilled that I'd responded, for some reason. "We were wondering if you could provide us with some info." Immediately, the man's face drooped a little, but he fixed it just as fast. I knew he'd been hoping for business.

"Depends, mate," Brock said. Different name, I noted after reading the nametag. Sorta cool. "Wotcha need?"

"I'm not sure if you've heard of this guy," I said, making sure I wasn't talking too fast. I was already having a hard time with _his _accent, so he was probably having issues with mine, too. "But we're looking for a doctor named Evan Michaels."

"Evan Michaels? I've heard the name," Brock said. His eyebrows raised, and he looked eager to help. Again, I couldn't figure out why he was so excited. "I want to say Melbourne, but I'm not entirely sure… my apologies…!"

"Melbourne?" Tails said quietly next to me. "Is that a city?"

"Of course it's a city," Brock told him, looking mildly amused. "One of the most well-known cities in the country, mate."

I shrugged. That sounded promising enough. "How do I get there, then?"

The man laughed a single chuckle. "It's not like it's just down the street. You're in Brisbane, you know. I'd recommend getting yourself on an airplane—"

Airplane, huh? I didn't say what was going through my head at this point, as much as I wanted to. Instead, I raised a hand, quieting him. "Can you give me road directions, please?"

"You sure? Someone as well known as you probably wouldn't even have to pay for their flight—"

"Wait, you know me?" I interrupted for the second time. Then realization dawned: _that _was why Brock looked so eager. He knew who I was!

"Who doesn't?" Both Tails and Brock responded. Brock grinned at him.

"Great minds think alike, eh, mate?"

I rolled my eyes at them. Brock turned to look at me again.

"Sure, mate, I can give you directions… for a price," he added. I wondered how he could think I wouldn't have to pay for a flight ticket, when he was right here charging me for _words_. No time to work that one out, though.

"Name it."

Brock must've sensed my reluctance, because the grin suddenly faded and he reached towards me, as if to put a hand on my shoulder. "Not _that _kind of price, mate! I just want your autograph… if you don't mind, of course."

Ah, of course. "Not at all!" I told him. He was already on his computer, printing off a map. When he was done, he set it on the desk between us and grabbed a yellow highlighter.

"Mostly, you'll be on this expressway," he said, drawing a line over the road in question. I watched and listened as he drew on the map and explained the little details. When he was through, I took the map, tore off the bottom half of the page – which was blank – and scratched my name in cursive.

"There ya go," I said. "Knock yourself out. Frame it." I gave him a thumbs-up. He didn't seem to notice as he took the paper back from me. For a few seconds, he just stared at it.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Sonic," Brock said after a moment, reaching his right hand out. I shook it. "Tails," he said with a nod, shaking Tails' hand as well. I saw Tails' ears shoot up in surprise – he hadn't told Brock his name.

"Hey Brock," I said on the way out. "This is a nice hotel, here. I'll come back some time, 'kay?" Then we left.

All three of us seemed to have gained something from that little rendezvous. Brock got an autograph. I got a map.

And Tails got some well-deserved recognition.

"Sonic, he knew my name! I live on the other side of the world to him, and he knew who I was without even asking! That's so cool!"

"You bet it is, bro," I agreed, smiling. "I don't see why you're so surprised, though. You're just as famous as I am."

"Really?" he said, delighted. "But… you're the one who…"

"Who what?" I asked. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. He had no answer for that… not unless you count the barely audible "Wow" that slipped past his lips.

I had a feeling that he would remember this for a while. It meant a lot to him to be appreciated and wanted.

We walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes while Tails lived up his moment. Then he took the folded up map from my right hand and opened it up. I peered over his shoulder as his eyes followed the route. "Wow, looks like Melbourne is pretty far," he said. "Almost nine hundred miles."

"That's not far," I said. "Here, grab on! We can get there in a little over an hour."

Tails hesitated. "What about the Tornado?"

I withdrew my hand. "Huh, almost forgot about that. Well, I guess it _is _sort of far, in that case. Oh, well."

"Actually, I was thinking I could go get it and meet you there. That way you can race on ahead. The sooner one of us talks to Michaels, the better."

I raised my eyebrows at him. This wasn't like Tails, wanting to split up. I wondered if he really didn't mind or if he was just suggesting it because it seemed like the right thing. He _did _have a good point, either way.

"Okay," I said, and he smiled. "We both keep our communicators on, though, all right?"

"All right!" He said, and his voice was a mixture of excitement and determination. He turned tail(s) and started in the direction we had come from.

"Hey, hold it," I called after him. Time to be big brother for a minute. He _was _still a kid, whether he was maturing or not. He turned around to face me, the smile still on his face. "Watch yourself, Tails."

"I will, Sonic, don't worry!" He said, giving me a thumbs-up. "See ya in a bit."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tails' point of view.

xxx

I couldn't believe Sonic was letting me go off on my own in a whole different country. I'd thought he would be reluctant about it, but he wasn't. Last year, when we were trying to stop Zorro, he only let my go off on my own a few times, and I had to argue with him first.

I wouldn't let him down. I would bring the Tornado to Melbourne and find him when I got there, and then he would know he could trust me with this kind of thing. He would know I was smart enough and mature enough to do things on my own.

I spun my tails to add some speed to my steps. As long as I didn't try to lift myself off the ground with them, they didn't really bother me. Even in the air, I was getting used to the pain, but I still didn't like to fly unless I had to.

As I ran, I noticed something: I was really fast! Whenever I was with Sonic, I didn't tend to pay attention to the way the buildings blurred as I whizzed by… because I always felt so slow next to him. Now, though, I was alone… and I was realizing for the first time what a boost my tails really gave me.

I turned my head forward and looked at the horizon again. It looked a little lighter in that direction. Was the sun starting to rise? I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a terrible thought hit me. "Oh, no!" I said, even though there was no one around. It hadn't occurred to Sonic or me that there was only one map. And Sonic had it. _How am I going to get to Melbourne?_

I kept going. Ten or so minutes later, I realized I could've gone back to Brock and had him print off another map, but by then I was almost to the Tornado. Besides, I had come up with an idea. If Sonic had one Chaos Emerald, and if he had left the other one in the Tornado…

It was as I'd hoped when I got there. There, resting on the pilot's seat, was a Chaos Emerald. I grinned. This would be no problem at all now. I could just follow the signal. No sweat.

I stopped spinning my tails, slowing down to a walk as I approached my… er, _Sonic's_ plane.

And then, with the loud whooshing of my twirling appendages gone, I heard the noise.

There was another thing that we hadn't thought of before splitting up. Of _course _Eggman would have been listening. And of _course _he would send the robots after us when he could put up with us one at a time.

If Sonic were here, I knew what he'd say: "Hah! I can go _faster _than supersonic – there's no way they can catch us!"

But _I _wasn't supersonic. And Sonic wasn't here.

This battle was mine… and only mine.

**Another one down. :) You can expect updates pretty much every week after Thanksgiving. I have next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off – and the weekend, of course – and I have no choice but to sit around and take it easy the entire time, because I'll be recovering from surgery on my left ear, which I haven't been able to hear out of since birth because of a deformed bone, so I figured I'd make use of the down time and get this baby typed.**

**How was THAT for one hell of a run-on sentence? Heh. Thanks for reading, as always.**


	12. Chapter 12: Threats and Theories

Hey, all! Well, I promised an update after Thanksgiving, and it's after Thanksgiving and I'm updating. :P What? I never said it'd be _right _after Thanksgiving. Besides, this Chapter is _long_, so I have a valid reason for taking a few extra days. That, and that it took me longer to recover from that ear surgery than I thought it would. And Sonic Unleashed came out. That, too.

I think Sonic Unleashed is awesome, by the way! I'll go as far as to recommend it, particularly for the 360. I rented it on Wii but bought it on 360, and that version is better, in my opinion. The critics think otherwise, no idea why. But critics suck.

I accidentally deleted all my progress last night and now I have to start over, and I don't even mind because I had so much fun with it. That's gotta tell you something! A few of the night levels get repetitive, but most of 'em are loads of action. And the daytime levels… oh my gosh, Sonic is SO fast. I love it. And it's not a glitchfest like Sonic '06 was (although I actually did like Sonic '06, too – it had a good plot; the gameplay was just absurdly annoying and glitchy).

So, here's the first of a string of almost-weekly updates. You'll like this one, despite the boring title.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

CHAPTER 12: Theories.

Tails jumped into the Tornado and turned on the ignition in the same second. _They must've realized I noticed them by now. They're coming fast…_

The plane accelerated. Tails curved it to the left and took to the air, not with intentions to flee, but to fight. There was no point in trying to escape something several times faster than him.

As he expected, the disc-shaped robots were in hot pursuit. In the back of his mind, Tails wondered if there were more going after Sonic. He knew warning him would be a good idea… but right now there were more pressing problems.

Tails pulled a fast one-eighty, whipping the plane around completely. To his surprise – and fortune – there were only half a dozen of the hovering slicers. The fox knew better than to get cocky, though.

He fired some blind shots at the robots. They all missed, but had the desired effect: distraction. All six of the robots were forced to slow momentarily. By the time their detection systems – which were evidently slower than their speed capabilities – figured out what was really going on, the fox was already speaking into his communicator, controlling the Tornado with one hand.

"S-Sonic!" He stammered awkwardly, having a hard time multitasking under the pressure. "Are you there?" He managed to cover up the panic concealed in his words.

"Hey, Tails, what's going on over there?"

One of the Frisbees recovered and dive-bombed. Tails swerved to the right, involuntarily cringing at how close the attack had come. "My turn to say it: watch yourself! They're here!"

"They?" Sonic said, keeping his voice even. "What's going on, Tails?" He repeated.

"You know, the supersonic ones! Keep your eyes open, Eggman probably has them following you, too!" Tails cautioned. "I just noticed the ones on my tails a few minutes ago – they're sneaky!"

"Eggman… I should've known…" Sonic muttered to himself. "I'm turning around, okay? Hang in there, I'm—"

"No, don't!" The fox interjected. "I'm fine! Sonic – don't worry, I can handle this!"

Sonic deliberated, and then said, "If you say so!" There was confidence in his voice, and Tails didn't miss it. He smiled as Sonic continued: "If you need help, though, I can get back in a few minutes. Just holler."

"Gotcha!" Tails lowered the communicator and directed his eyes on the enemies ahead, thinking for a few moments. He had a large arsenal of bombs and missiles, all different shapes and sizes for different situations. Which ones would be the most useful here? Would any be fast enough to catch the speed demons?

While he had considered, the robots had spread out, and were beginning to close in from all sides. For a second, Tails was afraid… then he knew what to do. "Trapping, huh? Two can play at that game."

Tails ascended the plane upwards, getting himself out of the robots' attack for the second and buying some time. He scanned the controls for the button he was looking for and found it. Homing missiles. He pressed it once; three of the powerful weapons shot out from beneath the plane's nose. He pressed again; another set of missiles erupted into action.

The kitsune covered his sensitive ears as the projectiles blasted forward, causing a sonic boom.

"Hah! How do you like that?"

It took a grand total of two seconds for the missiles to catch four out of the six robots. They exploded on impact, and chunks of flaming metal descended back toward Earth. Tails smiled triumphantly. _If only the Tornado had been nearby last time these things attacked us._

The last two missiles were following the same robot. It had been farther away from the plane, so it had had more time to react. Now it was zipping off in the opposite direction, its white flame tail leaving a trail of smoke in its wake.

It was too late by the time Tails realized there was still one more robot nearby. He only had time to register the high-pitched whistle it created as it rushed right by the right side of the plane. Before he knew it, the Frisbee had made a u-turn and thrust itself into the left wing. And – to the fox's terror – it didn't stop there.

Tails watched helplessly as the razorblades on the robot's edges spun, grinding into the wing. If it didn't stop, it was going to slice the wing clear off!

"No…" Tails whimpered. The tables had turned. Desperately, he began swerving the plane left and right, trying to throw the robot off. It didn't even budge. He accelerated the plane to twice its original speed; the robot still didn't budge. It just continued shredding away at the wing, slicing ever slowly through it.

"No! _NO!_" He cried, though he might as well have yelled 'I love you' to the hunk of metal. It wouldn't have changed a thing. The plane was still going to go down, and who knew where – or how – it would land…

"_Sonic!_" The kitsune all but shouted into is com-link. There was an immediate response.

"Tails! You were right, bro, I owe you one! They've got me surrounded!"

_Not you, too!_

"Sonic, I've got one on my wing!" Tails didn't need explain further than that for the hedgehog to understand.

"Did you try shaking it off? Flip the plane a couple times!" Sonic suggested.

"It won't do any good when it's jammed into the wing! A couple of jiggles isn't going to shake him loose!"

"Then just keep the plane under control! I'm on my way, just hang ti— _urgh!_"

"Sonic!"

"Ugh… I'm – I'm okay…!" Sonic assured, although the strain in his voice was saying otherwise.

Tails closed the connection, biting his lip nervously. Sonic couldn't help right now, and even worse, the hedgehog was having problems of his own. All the sudden, though, one last idea struck him… and as soon as it did, the fox shook his head. It seemed impossible.

But what was left to lose at this point?

"Well… here goes nothing!" Tails leveled the plane, making sure it was completely straight, before switching to autopilot mode.

Then he raised the windshield covering the cockpit.

Hard, fast wind blasted him in the face, forcing him to pause momentarily to regain his breath. Then, legs shaking nervously, he stood on his seat and began to climb out of the cockpit.

This was the first time Tails had ever been afraid of heights. If he lost his footing, there would be no way he could reach the ground safely from how high he was, no way he could keep his tails spinning for that long. Even if he did it skydiving-style and didn't start spinning until he got close to ground, his momentum from falling would be far too much for his tails to handle in the state they were in.

_And what would happen to the Tornado?_

The fox felt stupid for letting the thought cross his mind, but he'd loved the biplane since he met Sonic. If he _did _lose his footing, even for a second, the Tornado wouldn't wait for him to get back on again. It would continue speeding forward, and it would be long gone before Tails even realized what happened.

The fox grabbed the edges of the wing firmly in both hands, then used his tails to lift the rest of his body up onto it, letting out a grunt of discomfort. He kept his eyes on the robot, just in case it decided to separate itself from the plane and go after him instead. As he saw it from a closer point of view, though, Tails realized that the robot probably _couldn't _get unstuck, even if it wanted to; it would have to keep grinding its razors until it literally sawed right through the wing.

"Uhh…?" Tails moaned nervously. His brilliant plan had gotten this far; now he needed a way to remove the lethal disc from the wing. Desperately, he looked back down into the plane, eyes scanning the floor and seats for anything useful. There was nothing in plain view. Hints of panic began stirring around in the fox's stomach.

He looked back at the robot. It was nearly halfway through. There was no longer time to hesitate.

Tails slid back down into the plane and dove to the floor, reaching under his seat to grab the only weapons he had. Because of his shaking hands, it took a few extra seconds for his fingers to open the lock of the toolbox, and he moaned in frustration. When he did, though, he grabbed the largest thing in view – a two-foot long chrome-vanadium wrench.

Tails held the wrench securely in one hand and clutched the plane's wing with the other hand. Making sure his grip on both were secure, he spun his namesakes just enough to boost him onto the wing again. He realized as he finished pulling himself onto the flat surface that the plane was beginning to tilt due to the extra weight of the robot.

No time to straighten it out now.

Carefully but swiftly, Tails pushed himself to a standing position, spreading his legs across the width of the wing in order to keep his balance. Then, with the end of the wrench clutched firmly in both hands, the fox raised his arms over his head and thrust the bar of metal down as hard as he could on the robot.

He didn't wait to see if this alone was successful; he lifted the tool above his head and crushed the robot with it again, showing no mercy. After doing this twice more, he paused to actually look at the damage. The razors had stopped spinning, and the green light that signaled activation was out. What had been a round, smooth and fully functional machine just seconds ago was now completely obliterated – reduced to nothing but dead scraps.

Tails' breath came in heavy gasps as he all but collapsed back into the plane and into his seat, releasing the wrench somewhere along the way. Absentmindedly, he began piloting the plane again. He had to straighten it out once in a while due to the extra metal still jammed into the left wing. As long as the wing was still _there, _though, he could control it.

There was one thought that remained lodged in the back of the fox's mind as he made his way to Sonic. _I actually beat it._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sonic's right hand pressed against his right arm as he ran, stopping the last of the bleeding. If the gash hurt, the hedgehog didn't notice it – there were more significant problems to take care of.

He knew that going to find Tails with the supersonic discs at his heels was a bad idea. Besides, what use could he be when the fox was up in the air? There was nothing he could do for his friend right now, nothing aside from hope that he was okay.

All he could do was fight off the pack of robots following _him, _and in all honesty, that wasn't going to be much easier. The new shoes were helping – he could run away when he needed to, like right now – but they didn't solve the problem. He needed a way to _destroy _the robots, to get them off his tail for good.

Sonic took his hand away from his arm. The bleeding had stopped, more or less. He looked at the industrial area around him, searching for something helpful in the environment. There were plenty of big buildings. If he ran towards one and then turned or jumped at the last second – and perhaps got some of the robots stuck into the side of it in the process – would the material the building was made out of be strong enough to keep those razors from cutting through?

Worth a try.

Sonic turned off the road, casting a glance over his shoulder as he did. The robots were a little too far away for his idea to work. He slowed down enough for them to get close, and headed for a factory. They were only yards away… his movements would have to be very precise…

_Wait… right about… NOW!_ At the last possible second, Sonic jumped and thrust both feet forward. The loud clap of shoes against metal resounded through the air as he rebounded off the building.

The hedgehog whipped around in midair and slammed his feet into the ground, running back towards the road. There were at least three explosions behind him.

Sonic accelerated again, breaking the sound barrier this time. _Sweet._

He looked behind him. There were still four or five Frisbees following him. They either had faster, uh, reflexes, or were farther back and had more time to stop, he concluded.

Maybe it was time for a more direct approach.

_Hm… let's be a little experimental, here…_

His mouth forming into a confident smirk, Sonic abruptly leapt into the air. He raised his arms up and grabbed onto a streetlight as he passed under it. It didn't occur to him that he should've slowed down first until _after _his shoulders nearly dislocated from the force of his velocity. He nearly lost his grip due to the sudden jolt of pain, but managed to right himself in time for his plan to still be effective.

When the robots sounded closer, Sonic let go, flinging himself upward. His timing was perfect; he began descending just as the robots passed underneath him. He spread out his arms and legs in the air, enjoying the rush of the wind. Smiling triumphantly even as he fell, he landed on top of the last one, dropping to his hands immediately and holding on tight to the top of it, avoiding the razors all the time.

"Hah!" Sonic couldn't help the cocky laugh that escaped his mouth. "How good are you pitted against your own weapon?"

Still crouched down, Sonic leaned to the right, and the robot tilted subsequently. Up ahead, the remaining four robots had detected Sonic's sudden change in direction and were now coming back. Sonic shifted his weight again, turning the robot beneath him in such a way that the approaching ones would collide with its razors.

Then something in the back of his head clicked. _They have razors, too._

It was too late to do anything about it by that point. The bot he was riding and the bot coming at him collided. His came out strong, leaving the other one broken in the middle of the road.

Several of the razors on the Frisbee he was riding had broken off on impact. Using it to his advantage, Sonic grabbed the now safe edge. "Thanks for the ride, man!" He said, then he flipped in the air, still holding the robot in one hand, and slammed it on the cement. "Two birds with one stone."

Three robots were left to destroy. Two of them were very close to each other, one right behind the other. The other one was a few yards off, and further back. Sonic glanced thoughtfully at the one he had just disabled, then picked it up. He took the safe edge in his right hand, aimed it for the two, and whipped it forward with as much strength as he had. It slammed into the bot in front, which in turn slammed into the bot behind it with a loud bang. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left but ash.

The last robot had detected the disturbance and came to a halt about a two dozen feet away. It was across the road from Sonic, who grinned at it, arms folded. "Just you an' me, huh?" Then something slammed into it, the momentum carrying both objects hundreds of feet down the road and out of sight.

Sonic just stood there, blinking once. "Well… _that _wasn't random at all."

"You're right, it wasn't," an amused voice said from… somewhere. Sonic looked to the right, and there was the Tornado, coming in for a landing. Inside it, of course, was Tails, chuckling a little at the blank look on the hedgehog's face. "Hop in!"

Sonic did, moving the wrench off the back seat and sitting down. "What's up with this?"

"Oh, the wrench? It came in handy when I was getting rid of that robot," the fox explained.

"Wow, you resorted to major violence!" Sonic grinned. "Guess it's not like there was time for a peace treaty, though."

Tails chuckled again. "I couldn't get it out of the wing, though, so we'll just have to put up with ride that's somewhat less smooth. Hope you don't get motion sickness."

"Motion sickness? Someone who runs around at the speed of sound constantly? Are you forgetting who you're…"

"All right, point taken," Tails said. "What happened to your arm? Is that what was going on when I beeped in earlier?"

"Got sliced with the razorblades. It's nothing." Sonic looked at the cut, which was bleeding again. He hadn't bothered to be careful for injury's sake.

"You going to have the doctor look at it? Never know if it could get infected or something. It looks pretty deep," the fox said, looking over his shoulder to see the wound.

"Nah, it'll be fine. I'm a quick healer," Sonic said, and winked.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A morning that had started off exciting quickly changed to tedious. The adrenaline wore off and left nothing but a pit of boredom and repetitiveness. It wouldn't have been hard to tell that Sonic and Tails were bored with air travel, and it took another two hours of exactly that before they reached their destination: Melbourne.

And then another two hours in the waiting room.

Sonic had deeply considered getting up and doing a few laps around the building (or the city, or the country) just to stretch out and _do _something. If it weren't for the fox sleeping on his shoulder, he probably would have. But because Tails _was _sleeping on his shoulder, he yawned and rested his head against the back of the chair, eventually figuring that getting a few winks himself wasn't such a bad idea.

No sooner had he decided this when the soft click of a door opening was heard. A light voice with a moderate accent called, "Sonic the hedgehog?"

"That's me!" Sonic replied.

Tails opened his eyes at the sound of Sonic's voice. "You say something?"

"It's our turn, bro," the hedgehog said, standing up and helping the groggy Tails to his feet.

"Think there'll be needles this time?"

Sonic stifled a laugh. "If I say yes, you'll get anxious. If I say no, you'll be suspicious. Which way do you prefer it?"

"I'd rather be suspicious."

"No."

"Awesome."

The two walked towards the door, and the lady who had called their names held it open for them. Her long hair was pulled back into a loose but neat ponytail that cascaded like a waterfall down her back. She was somewhat weighty, but it seemed to suit her. A genuine and friendly smile lit up her young face. "I suppose it should have been obvious that you were the hedgehog, with the spikes and all," she said pleasantly. "And you must be Miles."

"Tails, please," Tails said a little quietly, playing with his bangs.

"Of course. And I'm Alice Bailey, if you need to know. I forgot my nametag at my house. You know how mornings can be…"

"Don't we ever," Sonic replied, but not unpleasantly. Alice was one of those people who was easy to talk to and be happy around.

"Ah, you had an eventful morning, too?"

"I… heh, you might say that, yeah."

"Well," she said, clasping her hands together in a professional manner, "Right this way. We're going all the way to the end of this corridor, here… and into the last room on the right." Once the trio arrived at the room in question, Alice turned to Tails. "Are you willing to compromise, Mi— er, Tails?"

"What do you mean?" The fox asked.

"Looks like you're gonna have to get poked once today. Just once, so we can test your blood. Fair enough?"

"Eh… sure," Tails said with a shrug. Then he grinned. "Hey, I thought it was a compromise. What do _I _get out of this?"

"We're stocked to the max on candy right now, particularly those yummy York mint patties. You're welcome to take a handful!"

"Oh, I…" Tails stuttered, cheeks turning a little red. He had been about to say, "I was just joking," but stopped short. "Fair enough," he repeated back to Alice. _I love mints!_

Alice did the blood work and left, assuring the two of them that Doctor Michaels would only be a few more minutes. Surprisingly, she was right. Only five minutes later, an ivory-skinned man with brown hair and warm features walked in and introduced himself.

"You probably already know I'm Doctor Evan Michaels. It's nice to meet you both," he said earnestly, shaking hands with Tails, who was closest to the door, and then Sonic. "I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you two. It's an honor." The man's voice had the expected Australian edge, but it wasn't as strong as Brock's or Alice's.

"Pleasure's all mine, doc," Sonic said. "So, uh, I've heard you're pretty famous in these parts."

"I guess I'm quite well-known," Michaels said, smiling modestly. "I've got my name on a lot of antidotes and allergy meds. My specialty is quickly and effectively curing those who have a harmful substances in their bodies. Of course you know that already – I assume that's what brought you here, correct?"

"How'd you figure that one out?" Sonic asked, good-natured humor underlining his tone. The sarcasm didn't go unnoticed by the doctor, who rolled his eyes.

"I don't seem to have a good comeback at the moment," he said, grinning. "But I'll get you with something before the end of the appointment. Deal?"

"Hmph," Sonic folded his arms, returning the smirk. _I could get used to this guy. _

"Anyway, here's the plan. We have a few tests to run – forms to fill out, questions to answer, scans, you know the rest. We're going to need you to come back tomorrow so we can discuss the results of the blood work and the tests we're going to run today. We'll get you back here for another morning appointment. That work for you?"

"Yup," Sonic said.

"All right. Let's get things on a roll here so you don't make me late for my next patient…"

"You're not _already _late?" Sonic checked the time on his invisible watch. "Our appointment was supposed to be almost two hours ago!"

"Did you adjust the time on your clocks in accordance to Australia's time?"

"Yeah," Sonic said, looking quickly at Tails. "The Tornado's digital clock adjusts automatically, right?"

"Uh-huh," Tails said.

"Did your flight land here in Melbourne, or in a different part of Australia?"

"A different part."

"And did you check your clocks after coming to _this _part of Australia?"

Sonic's face drooped. "Oh."

"Owned."

"Yup."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So, Sonic," Tails said the next morning. He sat up on the beach lounger and turned his head to look at his friend. "What do you think the results are going to be?"

Sonic, who had been staring at the shimmering water of the pool with a look of disinterest, yawned nonchalantly. "Doesn't matter. If this guy can't help us, we'll just have to find another way."

"Do we have _time _to find another way?"

Sonic shrugged. "We'll have to make time, won't we?"

"You have a plan?" The fox asked. "Where do we go after this?"

Sonic stretched, then swung his legs off his lounger so his feet were on the cement and he was sitting up. "Not a plan, per se, since I don't have any ideas for how we would actually _accomplish _this, but the next thing we'd have to do is to find the antidote ourselves. Eggman said he was the only one with the cure. The problem with this, is…"

Tails waited for his friend to continue, and when he didn't, said, "What?"

The hedgehog shook his head. "I have a few theories. But let's see if we even have to bother, first.

"Okay," Tails said. "We'll see what the doctor has to say about all this first, and cross the next road when we come to it. Right, Sonic?"

"Now that's _my _definition of a plan, right there. Let's get going, our appointment is in a few minutes."

The two headed back inside to check out of the hotel, and then ran the few blocks to Doctor Michael's building. Once they got there, they found themselves in the same dull waiting room as the previous day. Amidst the quietness, Tails' concerns grabbed the opportunity to surface again.

"Hey Sonic, what about Eggman?"

"What about him?" The hedgehog questioned.

"I mean… well… we haven't been around to stop him, or anything. I've just been thinking, wondering what he's up to, you know?"

"Yeah. Knowing Eggman, things aren't too good back home right now. That's something else we'll have to take care of. Even if things go well today, this mess isn't anywhere near over."

"I betcha he expanded that city of his," Tails said. "Grand Metropolis. And he probably has more minions, too."

Sonic frowned. "No doubt about that. While you're on the subject of Eggman, want to know what else I've been thinkin' about?"

"What's that?"

"I can't for the life of me understand why Eggman didn't just kill us in the first place. Let's not lie to ourselves, here – we know he wants me dead, and obviously, he seems to want the same fate… for you."

Tails' expression changed from curious to confused. "Well, yeah. Isn't that why he poisoned us?"

"That's exactly what I'm wondering about. Why'd he even bother? We were both unconscious. At his mercy. Why didn't he just end it, right there?"

"I don't know. But why does it matter, Sonic? It doesn't change the situation…" _This is weird. Why is Sonic concerned about _this_, of all things?_

"I'm thinking there's something going on behind the scenes that we're just not getting," Sonic said. He paused, as if debating on whether or not he should continue. "I'm thinking…" His voice rose thoughtfully, "that we were tricked."

Tails looked at the satisfied grin on his friend's face, and shook his head. "I don't understand…" he began, but trailed off. "Wait a second. Are you saying that whatever's in our system might not even be fatal at all?"

"Don't take my word for it," Sonic said, "but that's _exactly _what I have in mind. It seems just like Eggman, doesn't it? Maybe he didn't want us dead after all. Maybe he wanted to make us _think _we would die, so that we'd be distracted enough for him to…"

"…build his Empire!" Tails finished. "That would explain why this 'poison' has no symptoms. But… there's another hole."

Sonic's face fell. "What'd I miss?"

"He could've just kept us in a coma! No, wait…"

Sonic snorted. "North or south, bro? Which way you going?"

"Sorry, this is confusing!" The fox said. "Maybe he couldn't have kept us in a coma. Maybe leaving us in that state much longer would've killed us, or had us disabled once we did wake up."

"Would Eggman go through that much trouble just to make sure we stayed alive?"

"I don't know, Sonic. We could still be missing something. For all we know, Eggman could just be playing with us, now that he has us where he wants us… He could have decided that killing us on the spot would be too easy. Poisoning us and watching us scramble around the world looking for a nonexistent cure would be fun for someone like him, wouldn't it?"

Sonic sighed dismissively. "At any rate," he said, "What matters is that we figure out if we're poisoned or not. It doesn't matter what Eggman's ulterior motives were, if he had any in the first place."

"Wait," Tails said. "I want to hear those ideas you mentioned earlier, back at the pool. Let's backtrack. Let's assume we are fatally poisoned."

"Okay," the hedgehog said. "My first had to do with my shoes and your tails. I think there's a reason for both of those problems. I think Eggman might want to keep us from getting to something. Maybe he figures if you can't fly and I can't run at supersonic speeds, we won't be able to stop his plans, or get to the antidote, or some third thing."

"That makes sense," Tails said. "I was sort of thinking that myself. That would kind of imply that there _is _an antidote, wouldn't it?"

"Maybe. Again, we don't know all his motives."

"Okay. What else?"

"One more. Eggman doesn't actually have an antidote. He knows how to cure us, but doesn't have it on hand. _That _could be a problem."

"What makes you say that?" Tails asked.

"Remember when we first ran into Eggman in Grand Metropolis? If I remember correctly, he said, 'I'm the only one who knows the secret to curing you.' That doesn't necessarily mean he _has _it, just that he knows it. And when you think about it, why would he _have _it? If he has it, then there's always a possibility for us to get it – and if he truly wants us dead, he probably doesn't have it. That's the biggest problem, here. That's why I didn't want to go after Eggman in the first place. There are too many areas where things can go wrong."

"If this doesn't work, though… I mean, if Doctor Michaels can't help… we don't have a choice, do we?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nope, not really. If we're lucky, though, Eggman will have a supply of the antidote. Then all we'd have to do is find it."

"Easier said than done."

"Still, if we can find a way to figure out where it is, all we'd have to do is _get _it. And you know Eggman has underestimated us before. Whatever defenses he might have, I'm sure we can overcome them, even with our… uh…"

"Disabilities?"

"There you go."

"Sonic the hedgehog and Miles Prower?" A third voice interrupted. Both heads turned.

Alice Bailey was standing in the doorway at the other side of the room leaning on the frame as if she needed it for support, her expression the polar opposite of what it had been yesterday. She looked anything but cheerful, anything but lighthearted, anything but _okay. _

With that desperate, hopeless look, Sonic and Tails didn't need to hear any words to know that something was terribly wrong.


	13. Chapter 13: Too Close for Comfort

YES! My Internet is working! …Better, anyway. I've been having some problems connecting lately, so I haven't gotten on FFN in about a week and a half. Granted, I probably _still _would've been a few days late with the update since this chapter is quite long.

[7/23/12 - Hi again, sonamy lover 111, and thank you for your continued support! I appreciate the numerous comments you've left letting me know what you think of the stories. To answer your question, Sonic and Tails DID get back down to the surface. They took the Grand Metropolis portal that Cream talked about in her note (which is in Chapter 5: The Killer Inside). The narrative just skipped ahead a short while to after they had already returned to the surface of earth. So from Chapter 6 onward, they are back on the surface. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks again.]

Enjoy. :)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

CHAPTER 13: Too Close for Comfort.

Sonic and Tails followed Alice wordlessly to the end of the hallway, where she gestured to the room at the right. For some reason, she couldn't – or wouldn't – look either of them in the eye. Sonic almost asked her if she felt sick, but by the time he sat down in one of the chairs and looked up again, she was gone.

Doctor Michaels came in moments later with the same distraught look on his face, not even looking at the pair at first. Sonic and Tails exchanged uncomfortable glances. The latter scooted a little closer to the former.

"There a depression plague going around in here?" Sonic joked, hoping to ease the tension, but inwardly, he was beginning to feel anxious as well.

Evan Michaels allowed a deep, drawn out sigh to escape past his lips. He was no longer the same man as he was the day before. Something had happened. Something was going on.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, voice coated with sincerity. "Pardon my rudeness."

Tails shifted his weight anxiously, looking at Sonic out of the corner of his eye and then at Michaels. "What's wrong, Doctor?" he finally asked, unable to bear being in the dark.

Moments later, he would wish he hadn't asked.

Michaels deliberated. Then, abruptly, he turned his entire body towards them. "It's like a cancer," he uttered, and the words came out fast – as if he only had a small window of time to say them. "If it had been detected earlier, we might have been able to get rid of it. I'm afraid… it's too late now. It's spread too much to be cured. It's just going to keep attacking and attacking and _attacking_, from the fingertips to the wrists to the elbows to the shoulders to the chest… until it reaches the heart. It's like a cancer that's progressed to the highest stages. Any treatment we gave you at this point would kill you quicker than the poison itself."

"Like a cancer," Tails repeated absentmindedly. Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet the doctor's, who hung his head in shame.

"It's been a long time since I've had to give somebody this kind of news," he told them. "I'm sorry."

He and Tails fell silent, but Sonic broke the tension before it even started. "Ah well," he began, "what adventure's fun if it's too easy? Doc, thanks for doing what you could." He stood up and snapped his fingers in front of Tails' face. The fox seemed to have fallen into a trance. "Tails? Ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah," he said.

"Hold on," Michaels said. He held out a small bottle of pills. "Tails, after the tests yesterday, I did manage to find out what's going on with those tails of yours. It looks as if they were injected with something to make them weaker, which is why they hurt when you move them too much. These should help," he explained.

Tails took the bottle. "Thanks," he said.

As they left the building, Sonic sped up. Suddenly, the eleven days they had left to save themselves didn't seem like much at all. _Just yesterday, we still had three weeks. Just yesterday, we got on that passenger plane, I swear._

As if he could read Sonic's thoughts, Tails spoke. "Where'd the time go?"

"Time flies when you're having fun," the hedgehog said, dry humor in his tone.

The fox snorted. "If we're having fun, I don't want to know what it's like to not have fun."

"Me neither, bro, me neither."

"So… we go back home now? Find Eggman?"

"That was the plan, right? Does the Tornado need more fuel?"

"Yeah," Tails nodded. "I almost forgot."

The smile returned to Sonic's face. "Let's do that and get going."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took three days for Sonic and Tails to get back to Station Square. Three long and tedious days of flying over the ocean. And even after that, they still weren't _quite _there yet.

More precisely, they were thirty miles outside of their home city and the Mystic Ruins. That would be a five-minute journey if it weren't for the obstacle in their way.

"This is different," Sonic said. He stepped forward again, only to run into… nothing. He put his hands in front of him and felt the nothing. Nothing happened. Big surprise.

"Uh," Tails said uncertainly. "What _is _this?"

"It's like an invisible barrier," Sonic suggested thoughtfully. "I wonder where it came from."

"Could this have to do with Eggman? Think he's trying to keep us out?"

"I can't imagine it's only Sonic-and-Tails-proof," he said. "If we can't get through it, I doubt anybody else can, either."

Tails felt the nothing this time. "It's sort of warm, isn't it?" He asked. "Warm, and… not quite solid!" His voice rose in excitement. Sonic raised his eyebrows and again tested the mysterious material with his hands.

"You're right. When I push on it, it goes in a little bit."

Tails's eyebrows creased and his gaze focused, as if he could actually see the thing. He looked thoughtful. "I wonder what would happen if…" Tails paused, brought his hand back, and threw it forward at the barrier.

"AHH!" As his fist hit, it was stopped and held in place, tons of little sparks emitting from the point of contact. "Ah! OUCH!"

Sonic rushed up to him. "Take your hand away!"

"Uh—_ah!_" He grunted with the effort, but pulled his hand away from the barrier. "I was trying! It wouldn't let me!" The fox brought his hand into his chest and looked in the general direction of the barrier accusingly.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah," the fox replied. "I think I'm fine. That was really weird, though. It sort of... repels, if you push it too hard.."

Without looking at Tails, Sonic said, "We have to find a way through. Should we get back in the Tornado?"

"Hm…" The fox said hesitantly, "but don't you think this barrier or whatever would start from the ground?"

"I'm not sure, but the plane's got a whole arsenal of weapons and stuff. Maybe we could destroy it."

Tails thought. "I really doubt it, Sonic. What it did to me just now felt like being shocked – like electricity. Missiles and bombs aren't going to penetrate that, they'll just get electrocuted by it."

The hedgehog sighed. "Have any better ideas?"

"Let's run along the perimeter for a little ways, see if we can't find a way to get through. Maybe there's a switch somewhere to turn it off…?"

"Okay, let's do that, then," Sonic agreed, already beginning to jog. Tails, spinning his namesakes, flew along next to him.

"This feels a lot better. Those meds are working really well," the fox said. "I still feel a little heavier than usual, so I think they're still sort of weak, but at least it doesn't hurt."

"Good to hear," Sonic said. "Your flight may come in handy soon, too."

"There were several times already where it would have been handy…" Tails muttered.

"Yeah, I know. Same with my shoes. I think that's the idea, though. That's what Eggman wants."

"Speaking of Eggman…" Tails began, and his voice lowered as he dropped to Sonic's head level and whispered in his ear: "Should we be worried about these communicators? I completely forgot… and I have to believe he's still listening."

"Me too," Sonic said quietly back, hoping Eggman wouldn't hear. "We should have them turned off."

Tails shook his head. "That doesn't matter – he configured it so he can still hear through them, even when we _think _we have the connection closed. I messed around with them while you were piloting a few days ago, a little while before I zonked out."

"Should we ditch 'em?" Sonic asked, skidding to a halt so the two could communicate easier.

Tails dropped to the ground neatly, standing on his toes to reach Sonic's ear now. "Does it matter at this point? If this barrier is indeed a work of Eggman's, then he already knows where we are. And he must've heard our plans."

"Darn." Sonic's brows creased downward. Then, in the same second, his eyes brightened up again. "Hey, play along, okay?" He mouthed.

"Gotcha." Tails nodded.

When Sonic spoke next, it wasn't too low for Eggman to hear nor too loud to sound fake. "Hey, uh, Tails…" he began in a nervous tone, "did you ever grab the Chaos Emerald from the desk we set it on at that hotel?"

The fox hesitated for just the right amount of time. "…Wait, I thought you had it."

"Oh, man. We need that thing! What if Eggman goes after it?"

"Hold on a sec, let's not jump to conclusions!" Tails said, and actually jumped in front of Sonic with his arms pushed out in front of him, as if to stop him. "Maybe we did grab it absentmindedly… I don't remember leaving it there… maybe it's in the Tornado! C'mon, let's check!"

Sonic grinned at his friend's cleverness. They both paused for several seconds to account for the time it would have taken to get from where they were to the Tornado. When they 'arrived,' Sonic let out an impatient and annoyed sigh. "I can't _believe _we seriously did that."

"It's not there, is it?" The fox asked.

"Nope, bro, it's not. We have to get it!" Getting into the act, Sonic's fist clenched in determination.

"But Sonic, can we afford to waste time? Eight days…!"

In typical Sonic fashion, the hedgehog's voice perked up confidently. "You know what, that's plenty of time. I'm fast enough!"

"We can do it... but we're going to have to be extra fast when we get back! We'll be down to only a few days by the time we're back here again."

"No problem. Let's get going!" And Sonic _did _get going… but only for the purpose of creating a sonic boom, which Eggman would surely take as an implication that the two had left for Australia again.

He came back about ten seconds later, beginning to rip his communicator off before even coming to a full stop. Tails did the same, beaming from ear to ear, and handed his to Sonic. Wordlessly, Sonic took off at a slower pace (as in, a few miles short of breaking the sound barrier again) to discard them.

Another ten or so seconds passed. "I tossed 'em in a stream a few miles away," the hedgehog said upon returning. "It's nice and loud there – Eggman'll think something went wrong with the connection. It'll sound like static."

"Perfect! That was great thinking, Sonic!"

"Yeah, that's what comes out when I hang around with you for too long," the hedgehog said with a wink. Tails grinned.

"We'd make good actors, huh?"

"Probably would," Sonic agreed. "We should take that up instead of this superhero business. More money." When Tails' expression changed to appalled, Sonic laughed. "Come on, don't you know me well enough by now? I'm just kidding!"

"I knew that," the fox said, though the blank look on his face said otherwise. His cheeks turned a little pink, and he quickly changed the subject. "So should we, uh, keep looking around?"

"If you say so," Sonic smirked. They continued where they left off, keeping their eyes peeled for a switch, an inconsistency in the barrier… anything unusual, really.

"So, Sonic," Tails said after a few minutes, "you think Eggman is just sitting there all confused? Or is he going to Australia to beat us to the made-up Chaos Emerald?"

"He's probably sending his robots to do the work for him, like always," the hedgehog answered, rolling his eyes. "Which is definitely a good thing. It'll take him longer to realize we tricked him."

"I hope he fell for it."

"How could he not? It was _sweet. _Besides, we pretty much forgot he was listening in over the past few days, so he heard just about everything significant we said then. Why would he suddenly think _this_ conversation was staged?"

"Guess there's no reason for him to," Tails conceded.

"Exactly!"

"Hey, um…"

"What's wrong?"

Tails chuckled. "We _do _still have both of our Chaos Emeralds, right?"

Sonic's face relaxed. "Of course!"

"…Chaos Emerald!" Tails' voice changed from slightly nervous to out-and-out terrified… or at least that's what it sounded like to Sonic, who came to an abrupt stop and turned toward his friend.

"What now? You okay, Tails?"

Upon making eye contact with the fox, though, Sonic saw that it wasn't terror at all – it was excitement. His gaze was directed at something shining on the ground…

"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed, understanding. Grinning triumphantly, he leaned down to snatch the gem. He wrapped his fingers around it, then paused, still bent over.

Tails approached him, confused. "Uh, Sonic?"

"I… I can't pick it up," the hedgehog said. "What's going on?"

"Here, let me see," Tails said. Sonic moved out of the way so he could try picking up the Emerald. He gave the gem a tug, but it was as if it was rooted into the ground. "It seems like the barrier is holding it in place."

"So… this barrier is all about keeping us from taking the Chaos Emeralds, huh? Looks like we were right – something's definitely going on behind our backs." Sonic frowned at the atmosphere, wishing that he could listen to _Eggman's _plans instead of the other way around.

"Hold on, I had that backwards," Tails said, reconsidering. "I think what I should have said is, the Emerald… is holding the _barrier _in place."

Sonic looked at him skeptically. "Like, it's creating it?"

"Yeah. Which means it has to stop somewhere, right? If we just keep following it to the end…"

"What if it's closed up? Circular, or something?"

"Didn't think of that," the fox admitted.

"I have an idea, anyway," Sonic said brightly. "Can I see the other Emerald?"

Tails saw the too-ready glint in his friend's eye, the one that said he was about to do something reckless. "What're you going to do?" He questioned warily, making no move to comply with Sonic's request.

"Just hand it to me. I know what I'm doing, I've used these things before." When Tails still didn't agree, he added, "C'mon. Trust me."

"I'd trust you with anybody's life but your own," the fox said simply. He folded his arms. He knew he was going to give Sonic the Emerald… but why not give him a hard time first? _If he's going to be so impulsive, maybe it's time I started to let him know I'm not happy about it. He's my partner in crime; I gotta look out for him, too!_

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not a kamikaze pilot, here – I just want to try something. Be experimental."

"Experimental is a nice word for it," Tails said. "You're going to try and break through, aren't you?"

Sonic folded his arms, too, but not impatiently. "Eight days…"

That did it. "…Okay, fine," Tails gave in, tossing Sonic the Chaos Emerald.

Holding one Emerald in his left hand and the other in his right, Sonic closed his eyes and rose into the air. Without actually moving, he drifted backward through the air until he was a reasonable distance from the barrier. Tails got out of the way.

Sonic opened his eyes as a translucent, glowing film surrounded him. Tails watched as he simply floated there for some seconds, seemingly gathering energy. Then – leaving the Chaos Emeralds behind in case something went wrong, but hanging onto the power they had lent him – he bolted forward.

There was a loud cackle, several flashes, and a cry of either shock or pain. Or both. Then Sonic was lying on the ground, devoid of his Chaos powers, on the same side of the barrier he had started on. Predictable.

Tails walked swiftly toward his injured friend, as if he'd been prepared to do so. He started to ask if he was all right, but by the time he approached, Sonic was pushing himself to his feet. He gave Tails a weak thumbs-up.

Tails just shook his head and smiled an I-told-you-so smile. "Masochist."

"It didn't work…?" The hedgehog said, breathing heavily. "There's no way I shouldn't have been able to overcome that. I had _two_ Emeralds, and there's only one creating this barrier. It doesn't make sense!"

"There's only one? You know for sure?"

"We ran for a good ways, and it's the only one I've seen," Sonic said. "But… you're right. I don't know what other explanation there could be." He stopped and looked at the barrier… or rather, through it, since it was invisible. "This thing must be colossal."

"But... then... now what, Sonic? If we can't get in, then we have a huge problem."

The hedgehog grinned at Tails's constant jumping to conclusions. "If there's one thing I've learned from all the battles I wind up in, it's that everything has a weakness. I'm thinking I'll take a run around the entire thing, see how many Chaos Emeralds it's running on, find out if there's a way in," Sonic said.

"After what happened last time, splitting up probably isn't the best idea," Tails began, "but since we're low on time anyway, want me to take the Tornado up? Maybe I can come up with a way to break through…"

"If you want to," the hedgehog agreed. "I'd make sure your shields are working, though. Never know when we're going to get ambushed again."

"Should we meet up back here?"

"Sounds like a plan. Twenty minutes good for you?" Sonic asked.

"Depends on how big the barrier is," Tails pointed out, "but yeah, let's start with that. And don't worry, the Tornado's shields are working. Besides, what're the chances we'll get attacked in this fifteen minute window? It's not like Eggman can track us anymore."

Sonic stifled a laugh. "What were the chances we'd get knocked out for half a year and wake up poisoned? What were the chances Zorro was still alive that night after we transformed with the Super Emeralds? What were the chances I'd almost end up paralyzed for life in Eggman's base a few years ago?"

"The shields are working," Tails repeated.

"I know. Just messin'. You asked for that one."

"Yeah, I sort of did," Tails conceded, and then said, "Hey, eight days. We should get to work, Sonic!"

The hedgehog nodded in compliance and ran off without a second thought. Tails's already spinning propellers caught the air as he headed in the opposite direction and back to the Tornado.

Tails was the first to discover something, and it was before even ten of their twenty minutes went by. He was flying low – only about three hundred yards up – and had a clear aerial view of the area beneath him. Every once in a while, a glint would catch his eye, and he would assume it to be a Chaos Emerald. This time, though, it wasn't a tiny gem, but something significantly larger – a subway entrance. A metal structure created the tunnel that descended underground… and it also created the glint that the fox was watching.

"Goin' down," he said to himself, and began to bring the plane back toward the ground. It didn't take long to catch sight of the speeding bullet that was Sonic. Upon seeing him, he accelerated the Tornado and swooped down. The hedgehog, hearing the noise, slowed down enough for Tails to catch up.

"Hop on!" Tails said when he was flying alongside his friend. Sonic obliged, leaping up and letting the right wing catch him.

"What's up?"

"There's a subway over there a little ways, and I think it's right outside the barrier's limit," Tails explained.

Sonic shot him a confused look. "I'm starving, too, but don't you think the sandwiches can wait?"

"Not _that _subway, silly. I'm thinking that the barrier won't reach too far underground. If we can get in the subway station, we might be able to sneak past that barrier, too. Get what I mean?"

"Yeah. That's not a bad idea."

"I'm turning a little now," Tails warned. Sonic dropped to his hands to grip the wing. As the plane swung to the right, he saw the subway Tails was talking about. "Keep hanging on, I'm gonna come in for a landing right from the turn."

"Got it," the hedgehog said, and once the plane got close enough to the ground, he hopped off and landed smoothly on one knee – a move a normal person wouldn't be able to pull off without snapping their patella or femur. He strolled forward towards the stairs as Tails landed the plane on the side of the road.

"Hold up, I'm comin'," Tails called from a short distance back, climbing down from the Tornado. He caught up to Sonic and walked alongside him. When they got to the stairs, they both came to a stop.

"Wow, this thing isn't even running, is it? It looks dark down there."

Sonic nodded in agreement. "I wonder if Eggman's got something to do with this…" he said. "Why would a subway be shut down at this time of day? People are getting off work for lunch and stuff. You'd think…"

"You know, now that you mention it, there aren't even _people _around here. Where are we, anyway?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Sonic answered. "It's not Station Square or Central City – I think those two are further in. Maybe there aren't a lot of people around because this could just be a quiet city. Who knows?"

"Eh, I don't think so," the fox said, seeing through Sonic's attempt at comfort.

"Me either," Sonic admitted.

Tails cast a glance down that dark path, biting his lip uncertainly. "Should we go down, then?"

"Guess we should. Watch your step." Sonic started forward into the darkness... but stopped a few steps later when Tails wasn't at his side.

The fox had his hands placed firmly on either shoulder, like he was cold. "Hey, do you mind if I, uh, hang onto you? So we don't get separated, and so…"

"So if you fall, you'll bring me down with you? Sure, why not?" The hedgehog finished. Tails didn't have a phobia for darkness, he knew, but at his age, it probably still made him a little uneasy.

"I'm not scared," Tails said, as if reading his mind. The words seemed pretty genuine. "Really. Not of the dark itself, anyway. I just don't want us to get split up again. This could be a trap. Maybe Eggman has the barrier set up this way because he wanted us to go down there. And I don't want to risk…" he paused, searching for words, "losing you. A little over a week left for us to hang out is short enough already, and…"

"We have more than a week, Tails. We'll find the antidote. Don't worry about it." Tails didn't respond. "Come on, let's go down. What could be so harmful about a subway?" Sonic smiled at his friend, then began leading the way. Tails headed down as well, but not without grabbing onto Sonic's arm first. He fell quiet after that, his heavy breathing the only noise he made.

Sonic, becoming concerned at the fox's panic, asked, "What brought this one? You weren't having separation issues a little while ago when we split up to find a way through the barrier."

"I know," Tails answered, and his voice had an undercurrent of desperation. "I just don 't feel good about this, that's all. Maybe it's instinct."

"The subway, you mean?"

"Everything. Why there were no people around, how dark it is, and… what we're going to see at the other end of this subway. Sonic, there's a reason for all of it! Eggman's been up to something big, and we're bringing ourselves right into it!"

"So, what's new?"

"Sonic…" Tails pleaded. "You don't feel it too?"

"I feel like I normally feel under these kind of circumstances. There's nothing different about it. We've been in this kind of situation before."

"There is something different," Tails disagreed. "I'm not trying to sound hopeless or pessimistic. It just _feels _different. I can't explain it!"

Both of them fell silent, Sonic trying to understand what Tails was experiencing. They had stopped subconsciously about halfway down the stairs. There was just enough light coming from the top for them to see each other's faces. "Look," Sonic finally said, and Tails looked up at him. "Let's just hurry up and get ourselves out of here. Then we'll see how you feel once we're in daylight again, okay?"

"This isn't fear, Sonic," Tails insisted. "It doesn't have to do with the dark. Something just doesn't feel right."

Sonic gave his friend a gentle push and they began walking again. He put an arm around Tails's shoulders. "That better?"

"A little," he said.

"Just try and shake it off. Maybe it's just in your head."

"Maybe," the fox allowed. Then: "Hey, Sonic?"

"Hmm?"

"I can still see you. Do you notice it's not getting any darker in here?"

"Hm, yeah, you're right. Looks like there's a little bit of light coming from the bottom of the stairs, too."

"None where we need it," Tails muttered, looking up at the dark ceiling above them. "Someone must really want us to fall down these stairs."

Upon reaching the bottom, they discovered the source of the light: they were the lights inside the buses that were rushing by. "The subway _is_ running," Sonic said. "The station lights just aren't on. Wonder why?"

"I don't know, either. That's sort of weird. Sort of pointless, too," he added.

"Yeah, I guess it doesn't really matter. Should we hop on one of the buses?"

"Easier said than done," Tails replied. "They're not stopping. They're just whizzing on by." As he spoke, another one cruised right past their station, not even slowing. The wind whipped the fox's bangs to one side.

Sonic took his arm away from Tails' shoulders and walked closer to the track. "It looks really high-tech, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. No drivers or anything," Tails said. "It's all automatic. Seems like something Eggman would create, doesn't it?"

Sonic never answered Tails's question, for as soon as he asked it, the system came to an abrupt stop. All lights went black, all trains halted with a loud screech.

Tails inhaled a deep breath. "What's—" He began, but was cut off by another noise: a loud slam coming from somewhere above them. "Was that the entrance?"

Sonic looked up the stairs. He could no longer see the speck of light coming from the subway's entrance. It was closed off. "We're trapped."

There were a few minutes of quiet while Tails struggled to keep himself together. Sonic didn't have to see his face to know he was still tense. Whatever it was that had him on edge had really taken its toll – the hedgehog knew Tails didn't normally overreact like this.

When the fox did finally speak again, though, he had calmed himself down. "You know what, maybe it was all in my head. Maybe it's all the Chaos power from this barrier. Chaos Emeralds can do stuff to your head, right?"

Sonic nodded, then remembered Tails couldn't see it and said, "Definitely. Even if you're only a little wound up, the Chaos Emeralds can take that and make it worse. They run on emotion, so you have to keep your own emotions in check."

"But I've never had this problem before," Tails said. "Whenever I'm around all seven Emeralds, I've never been like this."

"Well, think about it. This is the first time you've been near so many Chaos Emeralds since we transformed with the Super Emeralds six months ago. Now that your body knows and recognizes Chaos energy, your mind is probably more bonded with it, too."

"Probably. I wish we could use the Emeralds _physically _right now, though. We can't even use the ones that are making this stupid barrier. All we have are our two."

"Speaking of the Chaos Emeralds," Sonic began thoughtfully, "Do you think all the energy could be messing with the subway's mechanisms? Maybe that's why everything shut down. Maybe it blew a fuse, or something."

"That makes a lot of sense," the fox agreed. "And if that's what happened… Sonic, I might be able to get it running again! Oh, but…"

"What's wrong?"

"On second thought, I don't know. It might be really hard to get it running again with the barrier still all powered up. Even if I can pull it off, all the energy above us will probably cause the same thing to happen again only minutes later. The circuit will blow again."

"Hmm… I can't deactivate the barrier," Sonic said, "but if I use our two Emeralds, maybe there's a way I can _weaken _it temporarily. It wouldn't be nearly enough for us to get in and out of it… but maybe it would be enough to let the subway run again for a while."

"Will that hurt you, though? I mean… we know the barrier must be made up of more than two Emeralds, since you couldn't get through it using ours—"

"Five."

"What?"

"Five Emeralds. I had already run the perimeter when you came back down earlier, and all the Emeralds we _don't_ have are making up the barrier."

"See, that's what I mean. Can you weaken the power of five Chaos Emeralds with only your two?"

Sonic smiled. Even though his eyes were adapting, Tails could barely see it. "You bet. I'm pretty experienced at this, you know – don't doubt me!"

"Okay," the fox said. "I'll give it a whirl, then. First, I have to go find where the circuit failed."

"How do you do that?"

"It shouldn't be too hard, actually," Tails said. "It would likely be right under where all that energy is compacted; right under the barrier. Somewhere around here. I do wish I had some light, but my eyesight is pretty good in the dark, so I should be able to find it." As he spoke, he wound up his tails and rose, flying toward the tracks.

"Want me to do anything yet, Tails?"

"Not yet. No need to waste your energy. Hang tight until I find what I'm looking for here, and I'll let you know, okay?"

"You got it."

Tails flew cautiously over the tracks until he ran into one of the trains. Feeling his way up it, he crawled on top and looked out over the tracks from there, squinting hard. Something caught his eye and he snapped his head in that direction. After a few seconds, he saw sparks there. "That was easy enough."

"Find something?"

"Yup," the fox replied, flying down back down to the tracks. He paused every once in a while, waiting for another spark to guide him, until he was close enough.

"Where are ya?"

"I'm down here on the rails. This rail here doesn't seem to be part of the actual track, although it's right between the two track rails. I think it's a conductor rail," he explained.

"You didn't bring any of your tools, did you?"

"No. It didn't occur to me that I'd need them. This can be dangerous work to do in the dark as it is, much less with bare hands. I don't even have my rubber gloves."

"Should we find another way, then? Electrocuting yourself isn't going to get us much further."

"You got yourself electrocuted on the barrier a little while ago," Tails reminded him. "Besides, I think I know what I'm doing. As long as the wires are covered, I shouldn't have to worry too much. After all, maintenance workers have to do this, too."

"Should I weaken the barrier, yet?"

"Sure, whenever you're ready," Tails told him. "I managed to get a section of the rail open here, thanks to a loose screw. Now all I have to do is…"

Sonic tuned the rest of his friend's technical babble, closing his eyes. The two Chaos Emeralds rose from his hands and began to glow, illuminating the room slightly. He was so adept at using the powerful gems that emotion was rarely an issue; he could always find the pleasant feelings and thoughts and bring them to the surface, making Chaos transformation easy to accomplish time after time.

He had never tried transforming when he was impatient or angry. He didn't want to know the result.

Seconds ticked away. Normally, Sonic would have finished his transformation by now, but since a lot of energy was needed to do what he was about to do, he took his time, concentrating on the wisps of power flowing from the Emeralds to his body.

A few seconds later, he began to sense an emptiness from the Emeralds. He had taken almost all their power. Dropping his hands, he let the drained Emeralds clatter to the ground. Then he ascended upward, almost to the ceiling, and floated there.

Breathing deeply, Sonic directed the energy within him outward, keeping the vision of the other five Chaos Emeralds vivid in his mind. The five Emeralds making up the barrier responded immediately to the interference, as if they were trying to block it out.

_Just as I thought. Those five are adapted to each other, but not to the two outsiders. These two probably haven't been near the others since we were put in comas, so they'll be hard to adapt._

Sonic continued to focus. He knew he couldn't draw on the barrier's Chaos power alone, but with the aid of his two Emeralds, it was possible… if he could only get them on the same frequency as the other five. As he willed the Chaos Emeralds to come together, as they had done so many times in the past, he felt it: something overwhelming, something beyond comprehension unless it had been experienced. It wasn't pain, nor was it pleasure, but a mix of the two that somehow managed to feel entirely different from both. Sonic's method was working.

There was a loud rumbling, and suddenly, everything began to vibrate. Under different circumstances, Sonic might have become unnerved… but he knew exactly what the cause was. It was just like putting a cold-blooded animal in a hot climate; eventually, it would have to adjust or die. Seeing as how the Chaos Emeralds were incapable of being permanently disabled, they'd had no choice but to adjust. The result: a flash of bright light ascending from all seven Emeralds, signifying that they were one. The sudden energy had caused a near-earthquake.

When Sonic had found Chaos Emeralds in the past, they hadn't needed to adapt because they were never apart for that long – and if they were, they had usually adapted before the hedgehog had needed to use them. Therefore, Sonic had known that what he had just accomplished was possible, but he'd never actually done it before. _Hah! I'm good!_

The hedgehog began to descend back towards ground again, his surprise (and his ego) distracting him momentarily. Realizing his mistake, he refocused on the barrier, now starting to absorb its power as well. It wasn't easy, since he wasn't the only force trying to control the energy. The barrier itself seemed to be opposing him, and he swore the pressure he felt was partly physical, as well. But so far, he was winning the battle. For a second, he wondered if he couldn't bring the barrier down all together this way, but then pushed the idea away. That was something to worry about later, and not while they were standing on the edge of life and death.

Through his focus, the hedgehog heard a triumphant "Got it!" from Tails. It was faint, like background music in a noisy store, but it was enough to snap Sonic out of his trance. He opened his eyes. Tails was watching him, able to see him slightly due to the glow. "Sonic, I think I fixed it!" He said. "Now I just need to find the power switch that turns the system on and off. I'll have to turn it off again, then turn it back on, and we should be all—"

Tails was cut off by the roar of something mechanical coming to life. Then the lights flickered and came back on. "Wh-what?" He asked to the atmosphere, confused. "But I thought it wouldn't come on until I restarted it. Normally, when you blow a fuse, you have—"

"Tails, get off the track!" Sonic suddenly hollered. His focus on the barrier was ripped in half at what he saw as he shouted those words: a bus was coming. With the sudden lack of concentration came a drastic drop in Chaos energy; he fell to the ground, catching himself on his hands and knees.

Time slowed as the hedgehog witnessed what was about to happen.

"AHH!" Tails's eyes widened in utter terror, and suddenly, he was petrified to the spot. It was as if all the muscles in his body had forgotten how to work.

"Tails…!" Sonic yelled, though this time it was weaker. Adapting the Chaos Emeralds had taken its toll; he was on the verge of passing out. "Tails, move…!"

_Help me! HELP ME! _The fox thought, but he couldn't bring the words to his lips. He didn't remember how. All he knew in that small window of time was how close that bus was to him. He had about two seconds to get himself out of the way… and he couldn't move fast enough… and for some reason, Sonic wasn't coming…

He didn't know where the strength came from, but flight-or-fight responses finally kicked into gear. Instinct rather than conscious thoughts took over as Tails threw himself flat on the track, face down, arms tucked under his body.

Hot air surrounded him as the bus sped over him noisily, its wheels screeching over the rails. The body of the train was raised just enough to miss Tails, cruising over him by inches. The level of fear the fox felt was so high that he couldn't even scream. He realized his back was burning, but even when the pain registered, he couldn't make a sound. What were mere seconds in reality seemed like minutes.

And then everything was quiet. It stayed that way for a long time. Both hedgehog and fox were rooted to the spot, one out of instinct and one out of fatigue.

Finally, the silence was broken with an agonized, pleading question that sounded nothing like Sonic.

"T-Tails? You okay?"

Sonic's voice was the trigger that sparked life in the fox again, and no sooner had he spoken the words when Tails scrambled away from the track and up onto the solid, harmless ground again, breathing hard. He found himself nearly face to face with the hedgehog, who was struggling to sit up. Upon seeing the fox, Sonic's expression collapsed with relief.

"You... you didn't get hit," the hedgehog managed, awe breaking through the weakness in his voice. "You're not... you're not hurt?"

"I'm…" Tails paused to swallow. "I'm fine," he breathed. He got down on his knees, catching his breath, before asking, "How about you? You just sort of… you know, fell down."

"I'm okay," the hedgehog grunted as he finally pushed himself up.

"What's wrong, then?" Tails asked, sensing a 'but' in his voice.

Sonic just watched him for a moment, then shook his head once and smiled a little. "Nothing," he said. "That was really quick thinking on your part."

"Yeah. That was _close. _That was _way _too close."

"Nice job."

"Uh, thanks," Tails said, not sure if Sonic was referring to getting the station running again or escaping death. "We should… we should hurry up and get to the other end of this thing. I don't want to have to do that again."

"Me neither," Sonic admitted.

"Did you have a hard time?"

"A little bit. It's not easy getting Emeralds to adapt to each other. That's what all the shaking was, by the way."

"I figured as much," Tails replied. "Come on, let's go right now."

"You're going to leave the Tornado behind?"

"It won't fit down that tunnel," the fox said. "Otherwise I would bring it. But it's okay; I can come back for it after we bring down the barrier. I was working on a Tornado 2 archetype at home, anyway. Well, assuming home is within the barrier's limits."

"It is," Sonic assured. "Most of Mystic Ruins is part of this, too."

"Most of?"

"The barrier didn't extend to Angel Island," Sonic explained. "I'm willing to bet it's because of the Master Emerald."

"At any rate…" Tails said, shaking his head.

"Right, let's go. Grab on!"

Tails nodded and clutched Sonic's arm, ready for the ride. The fear that had overcome him earlier was gone for now; he was ready for whatever lied ahead.


	14. Chapter 14: Chosen by Destiny

Hey all, I've got several things to get out of the way – some important, some not. Just skip past 'em if you don't want to bother. Here's the scoop:

**About Tails's and Eggman's rivalry. **A few people have mentioned – in reviews or PMs – that Eggman seems to act very cruel towards Tails, and it doesn't seem like he should have any reason to. Just to clear that up, the evil doctor does in fact harbor some sort of hatred for Tails. Why? For one, MY version of Eggman focuses on the evil aspects of SEGA's Eggman more so than the comical aspects. For example: Sonic Adventure, Tails's last boss battle… Eggman says, "You fool. Go, before I make mincemeat out of you," to the fox, sounding sincerely threatening. Secondly, waaay back in Capture the Fox, after Eggman's plot to kill Sonic (using Tails, who, as you probably know, was unwillingly turned evil for a while) failed and Tails turned against the doctor, an extreme rivalry was formed… so ever since then, Eggman has sort of seen Tails the same way he sees Sonic. Maybe not quite as bad, but close. Not to mention, with all Tails has done to stop Eggman over the past few years, he sees the little fox as a threat to his plans!

**About the Undestined Future series **(in other words, THIS series, duh). I just figured I would let you know that _Faster Than You Think_ is not the last story – there will be one more, titled _The Dark Side of the Moon._ There's a little bit about that on my profile, if you want to check it out. Not much, though; just info about the video that's going to go along with it.

**About my next Sonic project.** I've decided what my next big Sonic project is going to be after the series! It's not an adaptation of the Adventure series like I originally had planned, but it _does _have to do with the Adventure series. See the _Update Information _section of my profile for information and a summary on that; there's enough there to satisfy your curiosity (and I know you're curious)!

**About this chapter. **Uh... enjoy?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

CHAPTER 14: Chosen by Destiny.

"It's really nice to be out in the sun again," Tails said only moments after exiting the subway. He looked at Sonic for a response, but the hedgehog was facing the opposite direction, arms folded and head cocked to one side.

"Can't see the barrier from the inside, either, huh?" He muttered, more to himself than Tails. Then he looked over his shoulder, his expression apologetic. "Sorry, bud, what'd you say?"

"I'm glad we're out of there. That wasn't very fun for either of us," Tails said. He looked away then, avoiding Sonic's eyes, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Uh, thanks for helping me."

"Sure thing!" Sonic replied brightly, grinning and turning all the way around. "No need to thank me, though. If we hadn't both done our part, we'd still be trapped down there, so it was sort of necessary." He shrugged.

"I guess that works, too," the fox mumbled, still not making eye contact, "but that wasn't what I was talking about. I got a little spooked earlier, and…"

"Oh, that's what you meant," Sonic said, understanding. He stepped closer to his friend, sensing his difficulty on the subject. "But… I didn't really do anything but give you a little push. You got past all that yourself, remember?"

Tails looked at him, eyebrows creased, thinking back to what had happened minutes before the bus incident. He had told Sonic about his unnerving hunches. Sonic had put an arm around his shoulders and guided him down the staircase. In the end, though, he himself was who took control of the situation. "I did, didn't I?"

"Sure did," Sonic answered simply.

"Hey Sonic, now that you mention it, I've noticed something lately." The fox's expression turned thoughtful.

"What's that?"

"You… er… how do I put it…?" Tails went quiet, hesitating, finding the right words. "I guess… I don't feel like I'm the helpless little brother anymore. I feel like we're actually teammates. Equals."

Perplexed, Sonic frowned and placed a hand on his hip. "I'm not quite following."

"How about this… do you remember a few years ago when Eggman tried to capture me again? After I escaped the first time?"

"Yeah," Sonic replied hesitantly, going along with the strange direction their conversation had suddenly taken. "After he used that device to make you…"

"Evil," Tails finished. "Wow, that was a long time ago," he mused. "Anyway… that day he tried to recapture me, you took the blow for me. You got taken to Eggman's base instead, and you got paralyzed, injured, and nearly killed because of that." The fox's ears drooped as he recalled the memory.

Sonic hadn't given the unpleasant experience a thought since it had ended, but now that it was being brought up, the hedgehog took a moment to reflect on everything that had happened. He cringed in the slightest at the memory - not enough for Tails to notice. He snapped back to reality quickly, though, remembering that his legs were completely able beneath him and that he wasn't stuck in a tiny cell at Eggman's mercy. He turned to Tails confidently and said, "I'd do it all again."

Tails smiled sincerely, his heart aching with a mix of gratitude and guilt. "I don't doubt you. Listen… back then… you didn't know how bad I felt about what happened. You would've hated to be Amy; she had to hear me whine on and on about how guilty I felt. But looking back… at the time, I was…" A pinch of remorse made the fox pause, and he dipped his head. "I was _glad_ it wasn't me! I was glad that… I didn't have to go through that.

"That was at the time, though, like I said," Tails continued quickly, already searching for a way to justify it. He didn't think he'd be able to stand it if Sonic thought of him that way, if he thought of him as being so... selfish. Even if he did deserve it. "But now, I feel like… let me put it this way: if we were put under those circumstances again, I would take the blow. I feel like I'm strong enough now – mentally and physically – to fight _alongside _you, not behind you. I don't have to be the person who always needs to be sacrificed for, or saved.

"I guess I've been strong enough for a while. I just didn't realize it until now. That day in the field, fighting Zorro… you told me to get away while I could, and…"

"I took you seriously when you didn't agree to that last year," Sonic interrupted gently, and though his voice was calm, there was something more sincere hidden in his words. "I knew you were growing up when you said you weren't going to leave. That's why I've been treating you differently since we woke up. A year ago, if you almost got hit by a subway bus, I'd be trying to comfort you and asking you if you were going to be okay, but today I knew you could deal with it. And you did. You're not a little kid anymore, and I can't tell you what to do. That's why I let you go off on your own in Australia, by the way. So if you're willing to fight with me in all this, Tails, I know you're old enough to know the risks, and you're tough enough to put up with the injuries."

"Thanks, Sonic," Tails said softly. A comfortable silence hung in the air for a few moments, and they both turned to watch as the sun began to set. The wispy clouds shined in the bright orange light. None of the city's skyscrapers got in the way of the magnificent sight.

Tails continued where he had left off.

"That day in the field, you know you might not have made it out of there. Despite that, you told me to flee while I had the chance. Sonic…" he said meaningfully, finally looking into his calm, jade eyes. His next words were full of honesty and determination: "I wouldn't do it before, like you said, and I still won't ever do that, for as long as I live… even if I know there's no chance of getting out of it. I won't leave your side. I just want to let you know that. And… and I would _die _for you if it ever came down to it!"

The next round of silence wasn't as satisfying. The atmosphere no longer felt relaxing and warm; it felt tense and way too hot.

"Tails…" Sonic nearly whispered, coming closer to his friend. The fox's expression changed to one of confusion as he took in Sonic's unusually quiet voice. As the hedgehog watched this, he realized what must have been in his _own _expression: fear. Fear because he knew the fox meant it, and he didn't want him to mean it. "...What's bringing all of this on? How long have you kept these things to yourself?"

Having thought that Sonic would be touched by his words rather than unnerved, Tails bit his lip. "Not too long," he mumbled. "I guess… when you're days from possible death… you start thinking about your life, the good and the bad. And... and you start thinking about the people who matter to you, and you want them to _know _they matter to you." He paused to smile a perceptive smile. "Before you _say _it again, I know we're probably going to make it and all that. Don't get me wrong. But I wanted you to hear that now, just in case... we don't."

As Sonic's mind continued to block out what Tails had said about self-sacrifice, something the fox had said earlier registered more clearly. He took the opportunity to change the subject, but not before making a mental note to come back to it later. _I have to talk to him about this. He's too young... I could never let him die for me..._ "Uh, hey Tails, this talk about equals earlier… you'll always be my little bro, but… you know I've never thought of you as being… anything _less_" – Sonic nearly gagged on the word – "than me, right? We've always been teammates. I wouldn't be here if you hadn't saved me from the base, or from Zorro, for that matter."

"Sonic, in both of those instances, you put yourself in harm's way to save me," Tails reminded him. In the fox's cobalt eyes was not shame, now, but something akin to gratitude. He shook his head in disbelief, seemingly at Sonic's selflessness, before continuing on. "Now, I know I could return the favor, if we were to go back and do it all again." Sonic's heart thudded uncomfortably as the fox spoke those words; the purpose of changing the subject had been defeated. "You and I… Sonic, despite all the pain and difficulties, the things we've faced in the past few years have just brought us closer together. And..." Tails raised his voice, pushing past the obstructing lump in his throat, "right now, I don't think... I could bear to see you let yourself become Eggman's prisoner again, or... or take another _blade_. Because…" The fox was forced to stop as his voice broke, and tears began to slide down his cheeks.

Sonic couldn't speak. He felt utterly helpless. Tails was still continuing on about how he would do anything - _anything - _to save him, if it ever came down to it... and in all honesty, this terrified Sonic. _I can't imagine him getting himself seriously hurt or even killed at my expense. Is this... is this how he feels every time I take a punch for him? Or a fall... or a blade..._

Finally, Sonic found his ability to speak, and managed to form one desperate word: "Tails?" Overpowered with feeling as the fox looked at him through misty eyes, the hedgehog reached out toward his friend, as if to help him. Somehow, though, the fox found the power to continue his deep speech, and the gesture was rendered unnecessary.

"'Cause... you're the best friend I've ever had, Sonic. That was something I was too young to realize back then. When I was little... before I met you... well... you know how people treated me. So when I met you, I had... I had hope! And when I was growing up, I figured that if I had met one nice person, there were bound to be more. Earth is so big, I thought. There are more Sonics out there." Tails fell quiet again, waiting until he was sure he could go on. Sonic waited patiently. "And... I was right to the extent that there were more kind, caring people out there; I've made so many great friends since then. But still... now I'm starting to realize, Sonic... that... that there never has been and never will be someone else like you. It's like... it's like we were chosen by destiny to be friends. Or... brothers, I should say."

Sonic hadn't even realized he'd been holding his breath until he released it. He had been nervous for Tails's sake; he hadn't wanted the young kit to break down. He wouldn't have known how to comfort him. "Well..." he began, his voice holding steady, "you're right about that much," A warm smile lit his features. The sun was just falling below the horizon line, and the beautiful scene was reflected in his shining eyes. "You were a little kid getting picked on who needed a big brother. I was a preteen who hardly ever slowed down long enough to talk to anyone. We lived far away from each other at first, and somehow fate twisted our paths so that they'd cross, huh?"

"They've twisted our paths in way too many other ways, too," Tails remarked, rolling his eyes. "But that's all part of it, isn't it? I mean… I would definitely choose fighting for our lives and saving the world over getting picked on any day of the week. Even though it's rough sometimes, at least I have a _life _this way, you know?"

It was a rhetorical question, Sonic knew, so he didn't answer. "Looks like I was right back on that stormy night, wasn't I?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm glad I didn't keep pushing you to get out of there. That would've been the wrong thing to do. It might have messed things up, get what I'm saying? Back then, I think you needed that. You needed that independence to choose for yourself what you were going to do." Sonic pulled his gaze away from the sky to look at Tails again. "You've grown up a lot, you know."

"Thanks!" Tails said, delighted. Then his smile wavered, as if he had just remembered something unsettling… and that was pretty much the case. "Um, not to interrupt our conversation, here, but don't you think we should at least be doing something?" He looked where the sun had set just a few minutes ago. "One week, and all…"

"C'mon, then – let's multitask!" Sonic broke into a swift jog, but it was measured enough for Tails to run next to him. They continued their discussion that way; it wasn't a problem for either of them, since they could both run for quite a while without becoming short of breath.

"Like this, right now," Tails said. "Unless we need to really rush, or we're in a critical situation, I can keep up with you, Sonic. You don't need to grab onto me or carry me. I can run alongside you."

Sonic, never much for excessive mush (and figuring the amount of mush in today's diet had been enough for now), steered their talk in a different, lighter direction. "Oh, _can_ you?" A challenging smirk lit up the hedgehog's face.

Tails's response was first uncertainty, then eagerness. He returned the grin, accepting the challenge, and Sonic bolted forward. It took less than a second for him to get fifty feet ahead of Tails.

"You think I can't catch you?" the fox called after him, speeding up. And he _did _catch up to the blue blur, falling into stride next to him only seconds later. Despite the exertion, he was still breathing easily through his nose.

"You're just getting warmed up, _bro,_" Sonic said, his smile continuing to widen. "I'm not even up to one fourth of my normal speed yet. And that's only my _normal _speed!"

"I bet I can still be good competition," Tails said. "Where's the finish line?"

"How 'bout Central City?" Sonic suggested. "There's something I want to do there, anyway."

"Where _is _Central City from here?"

"Who cares?" With that, Sonic accelerated again, literally leaving Tails in his dust. The fox pushed himself forward, going from a fast jog to a sprint.

The city they had been in fell away behind them as they ran, still neck in neck, and trees began to surround them. Both hedgehog and fox were steadily increasing to dangerously high speeds; running into a tree could mean potential serious injury. Several bruises and scrapes, if nothing else.

"Foxes _are _naturally fast animals, you know," Tails pointed out. "You wouldn't know, though – you always hang onto my arm when we run."

"Last time I saw you run like this, you weren't this fast," Sonic said. "I'm still not breaking a sweat, though."

"Likewise, I haven't even started spinning my tails, yet."

Sonic raised his eyebrows. "Well, you're going to need them!"

Adopting the same cocky tone Sonic had, Tails said, "_Make _me need them! See if I can't keep up with you!"

Weaving in and out of trees without even looking directly at them, the blue blur shook his head. His eyebrows creased downward but the grin remained, begging for challenge. "You asked for it."

Sonic lengthened his strides so that he was traveling further in each step. He dodged trees and rocks and holes like it was second nature to him – and it probably was. A low chuckle emitted from his throat; he was going hundreds of miles per hour now, there was no way Tails would—

"Yes! I told you!" A euphoric voice called from only yards behind him. Sonic speeding up had been predictable, and the fox, having expected it, had reacted quickly to it. He had begun accelerating as soon as Sonic had, and thanks to his now spinning tails, he was able to keep up.

As their velocity continued to increase, so too did the volume of their words. "I hope you don't think this is _fast _for me!" Sonic called. "We have a long ways to go until we reach the sound barrier!"

"I've been spinning these things my entire life. You're underestimating what they can do!"

"We'll see!" The hedgehog replied cheerfully, confidently.

"Hey!" The fox suddenly shouted. "Look up ahead! The forest is coming to an end, and… wait… yeah, that's definitely water, Sonic! Looks like a lake! Too bad you can't fly over it like I can. You'll have to go around…"

Something in the hedgehog's face faltered, but Tails didn't notice it quick enough – it was gone as soon as it was there, and the smile was back. "Eh… who needs flight?"

In the next second, Sonic was racing across the water like a jet-ski, and waves tore out of the water in his wake. Tails was directly above him; he had only needed to jump in the air, since his tails were already spinning. "Sonic, that's awesome!" The fox called. "I didn't know you could do that!"

"Me neither!"

"I shouldn't have jumped up! If you can do that, I probably can, too!"

"The friction'll slow me down soon, though!" Sonic said. "I'm cruisin' right now, but when I'm on land, I slam my feet down really hard to push the ground behind me. I can't do that here!"

"Are you going to need help?"

Sonic snorted. "Nah! Watch this!"

The hedgehog turned his head forward again, then drifted slightly to his right. Then Tails saw what he was about to do: there was a sandbar just a few hundred feet ahead that Sonic was going to use to his advantage…

"Here goes!" Just as the fox had thought, Sonic soared off the thing like it was a ramp, ascending fifty feet in the air. In a matter of seconds, he was at the same height as Tails, and they were both sailing through the air, side-by-side. "Hey Tails, I have a secret," he began jokingly, "I can fly, too!"

They landed, hitting the ground running, on the other side of the lake.

"Well, Tails, you've surprised me, but those propellers of yours can't break the sound barrier!"

The fox knew Sonic was right about that much. _But I bet I can come close enough to scare him. I'll give him a _run _for his money. _

Ahead of them now was an open plain – the same field they had been discussing just minutes ago. The same field at which they had fought Zorro's army. And it happened to be the perfect place for Sonic to win their little competition. There were no obstacles, no hindrances. The hedgehog took advantage of his opportunity and blasted forward.

The sound of the sonic boom shook the earth beneath them.

Tails spun his namesakes even faster than before, as fast as he could spin them – but it was to no avail. He was too far back to catch up to his friend now, and Sonic was going too fast.

But that was okay. Sonic was supposed to be the fastest thing alive. Besides, Tails had something that Sonic didn't – the ability to fly. _I should challenge him to a flying race sometime. See how he fares with that. _He chuckled at the thought.

The blue streak ahead of him made a u-turn and came back. Just like that, he was at Tails's side again. "That was sweet, Tails!" He said. "I knew you couldn't outrun me, but _man_! I had no idea you were that fast! You were right when you said we were meant to be friends – and both of us being speed demons just proves that further!"

Tails laughed. "I am pretty fast, aren't I? You know, I didn't tell you this, but I ran back to the Tornado after we split up in Australia, too. I remember being surprised at how fast I was, even though I could hardly use my tails at that point. So when you wanted to race me, I knew I'd be able to surprise you."

"I'm surprised, all right!"

Their surroundings had changed again; the field was gone behind them, and they were in a city. They both began to slow, and it was only then that everything became clear enough for them to realize where they were.

"We're in Central City already," Tails declared, astonished.

"Yup."

"Hey, did you say there was something you wanted to do here?"

Sonic nodded. "I had an idea. I think we might be able to get some help, here—"

"Help?" Tails interrupted, suddenly hopeful. "…the poison?"

"Not that kind of help, bro," Sonic said, clearing up the mistranslation. "But this might help us find what we're looking for to get rid of the poison."

"Oh."

"I know that's quite a stretch," Sonic continued, noticing his friend's disappointment. "But since we need to really speed things up here, I figured that if we got some help from some… acquaintances, I guess you could call them, we could get to the antidote faster."

Noticing Sonic's usage of the word 'acquaintances,' it occurred to the fox whom he might be referring to. _They are based in Central City, so it would make sense… _"G.U.N.?" he tried.

"Yeah," Sonic said. "They're probably already aware of the barrier. And I know _they _know we've stopped Eggman before, so they should agree to help us. If they can send some of their robots out, maybe they can stop Eggman's Lethal Frisbees. That's what I'm calling them, by the way," he added. "Anyway, maybe G.U.N.'s bots can even find a way to weaken the barrier. Who knows?"

"That's a great idea!" Tails exclaimed, and genuinely meant it. "G.U.N. should be able to keep Eggman's plans at bay for the next few days until we get ourselves healed!"

"Exactly. And they might make our job easier, too. No doubt Eggman'll try to slow us down once he figures out what's really going on here… but he won't be expecting an ambush from G.U.N. when he gets back! I'm also hoping the Commander will help us locate what we're looking for."

"Which is what, exactly?"

"That's a good question. I don't know. My best bet would be a hidden structure of Eggman's, though. A base, a safe, anything. At any rate, at this point, we'd have better luck finding it if G.U.N. agreed to work with us."

"I guess that's all that really matters. We can use all the help we can get at this stage of things."

"Yup."

"What are we waiting for, then?"

"I couldn't answer that myself, Tails," Sonic chuckled. "Let's go!"

Tails nodded, and they picked up the pace again. He couldn't help but smile as he ran _next_ to his friend and hero. Sonic was running at a speed that, to the hedgehog, was leisurely. A few years ago, Tails wouldn't have had a prayer for keeping up with even that, but today, he could run right next to Sonic without a problem.

Physically and mentally.

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That's the end of this one. For the record, under normal circumstances, I would NEVER type a chapter this emotional, because Sonic is so laid-back. (Tails's personality is okay, though, since I base his personality on how he acted in Sonic Adventure rather than the more recent games; he acts just a little too grown-up in the recent ones for me). BUT, these aren't normal circumstances. They are both facing the possibility of death in approximately a week, so obviously, some things are going to be said that wouldn't normally be said. I'm just saying this so you all know that the instances of out-of-character-ness, particularly on Sonic's part (if you thought there were any) were intended in this chapter.

Like I said before the chapter, there's info on my profile about my upcoming stories, so check it out if you wish! Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15: Emerald Emissary

**at pie: Your review was anonymous, so I couldn't PM you a response (which is why I'm putting it here, duh). Anyway... I'm the one who should be saying thanks. :) I'm glad to hear you enjoyed everything so far - especially Beyond the Chaos. That one's my favorite. I'm impressed (and flattered) that you read so much in three days. Thanks for the compliments.**

**Hey, everyone. We're about 3/4 through the story now - things are going to start getting really exciting. By the way, after putting up this chapter, Faster Than You Think is now the longest out of all my stories... and it's not even done yet!**

CHAPTER 15: Emerald Emissary.

It was morning when Sonic and Tails were allowed into the G.U.N. headquarters. The place had been closed down for the night, and therefore they had been left with no choice but to go back to the workshop, wasting precious minutes. More than once, Tails had suggested ditching the G.U.N. plan all together, but there was a problem with that notion: without that, they _had _no plan. Neither of them knew where the antidote was hidden, or if it existed at all. Neither of them knew how to disable the barrier. And neither of them knew why it was so suspiciously quiet inside the barrier's boundaries.

Tails had also suggested making a brief return to Grand Metropolis, but Sonic had disagreed with that idea, too. It was too obvious. Eggman was smarter than to put something useful in the first place they'd look; they both came to an agreement on that. Going back to the sky city at this point would be a pointless and possibly fatal mistake.

After that, Sonic had proposed exploring the barrier's perimeter more closely, and possibly trying to destroy it again by using the two Chaos Emeralds. Whatever the thing's purpose was, he had figured, it was probably somehow related to their predicament. That time, Tails had shaken his head – they had already tried both of those things, and repeating them would waste time.

They were running out of new things to try.

Now that it was morning, though, it was a relief for both of them to be able to do something productive. At seven o'clock sharp, Sonic pulled the glass door open and entered the headquarters, Tails by his side.

"Do you have an appointment…?" The woman behind the front desk asked, not looking up from whatever had her attention. Her voice was slurred, almost as if she was drunk; she seemed like a naturally lethargic person. She was leaning heavily on her right hand, pulling the dark skin on her face up towards her eye and making her sharp cheekbones that much more prominent. Her brown-black hair looked like she had attempted to style it without a mirror.

The air conditioning was on, making a low rumbling noise in the background, so Tails risked whispering in Sonic's ear: "She doesn't seem particularly friendly."

"Have to wonder how she got her job, huh?" The hedgehog whispered back. The woman chose that moment to raise her eyes towards him. At first, Sonic wondered if she had heard them, but since the look on her face was one of impatience rather than accusation, he decided in the negative.

The impatience faded away quickly, leaving a blank stare. Sonic, accustomed to that sort of reaction from someone who hadn't seen him in person before, strolled forward. "Good morning," he said, trying not to sound sarcastic about it… though he was tempted.

"Good morning," she echoed, her voice a monotone. "Sonic the hedgehog… it's… well, this is quite unexpected."

"Were we supposed to call or stop in ahead of time?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, but… that's fine. I'm sure we can work something out. That wasn't what surprised me, though. It's, um… it's nice to meet you, Sonic."

"It's nice to meet you, too."

"Are you, um, here to see anybody specific?" The woman's voice was just a little more lively, but there was still something wrong with it.

"Is the Commander here right now?"

"Hm… looking for the top dog, huh? Is this extremely urgent?"

_If you consider it urgent that our lives are in jeopardy and that you and everybody else within a thirty-mile radius cannot _leave _said thirty mile radius, then yeah, it's urgent. _"It's pretty important."

She sighed. Sonic couldn't tell if it was directed at him or at the world itself, but he was putting his bets on the latter. He was beginning to sense that there was something behind this woman's miserable behavior, though; some sort of reason. "I can contact him for you, but I can't guarantee anything else," she finally said.

"Thanks."

The woman said and reiterated the Commander's name over the speaker. He responded almost immediately. "Yes, Kay?"

"Sonic the hedgehog and Tails" – said fox smiled at his preferred name being used – "are here to speak with you. Do you have any time on your hands?"

"Some. What's the issue, though?"

"They wish to explain it in person, Commander."

"Fair enough. Send them up. Make sure they know it must be fairly brief– seven thirty at the latest," the Commander said. There was the click of a terminated connection, and then Kay set the speaker down.

"Did you hear all of that?"

"Yeah," Sonic answered.

"It's five after right now. That gives you about twenty-five minutes. I hope that's enough time for you to explain your issue," Kay said, but there was not enough emotion behind her words for Sonic or Tails to believe they were genuine. "You can take the first elevator up."

Sonic was about to thank Kay, but she had looked back down at the paper she was reading as soon as she had finished her sentence, and he decided her body language was telling him to leave.

The elevator brought them several floors higher and opened automatically at the correct one. They had both expected a hallway, as was typical for large buildings like this, so it was a bit of a surprise to be let out right in front of the Commander's desk. They looked around the room. It was large, but didn't take up the entire floor; there were three doors scattered on the walls which evidently led somewhere else. The room itself looked like a typical office, aside from the fact that it was at least three times larger. In the middle of the room, on or near the desk, was a computer, a telephone, a laptop, and several stacks of neatly organized paper work. On the far side of the room were security cameras and other high-tech sorts of things. Near the left wall was a chair and a small television.

"You live here?" Sonic asked abruptly.

"You would think so," the Commander replied, "with how much I've been here lately. Things are rough."

"I know the feeling," the hedgehog muttered. He looked up at the Commander. "I'm Sonic."

"I know."

"I figured."

"Why'd you bother, then?"

Sonic shrugged. "People know me too well, so I haven't had to introduce myself in a while. Wanted to make sure I remembered how."

"You're funny," the Commander said in a tone that contradicted the words. "Anyway, let's get to the point, hm?"

"Right. Guess I just wanted to lighten the atmosphere up a bit. Things being rough, and all that."

"That's understandable. Speaking of which, you might have noticed my secretary's foul mood. If so, you probably didn't get a very good first impression of this place. Either way, I apologize on behalf of her distractedness," the Commander continued, standing up. He had a tall physique, and managed to look thin and muscular at the same time. Sonic followed him with his eyes as he began to pace. "You see, her husband has been missing now for several months, and she's afraid something has happened to him." At this point, the Commander paused and cast Sonic an expectant look.

Sonic was quiet, trying to figure out if this was a mere justification on Kay's behalf or a request in disguise. It didn't matter – the hedgehog had already made up his mind what he was going to do with the situation.

"Ever since then, she has been very… distraught. Her and I are pretty well acquainted, so I know that the way she is acting isn't how she used to act. And I think she is beyond the point of trying to hide that."

"You said several months…" The hedgehog mumbled. He glanced at Tails, who made eye contact and nodded. The clever fox hadn't missed it, either. Kay's husband had gone missing around the same time Eggman started gaining power.

"It has to be Eggman," he mouthed.

"Of course, this isn't why you two are here," the Commander continued. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off on a tangent. I'm taking up our time. What was it you needed?"

Sonic was going to press the subject, but the Commander was right – time was being taken up, and he didn't need anymore details. "We were wondering if G.U.N. could aid us. We think we can stop Eggman and destroy the barrier around this area." Sonic waited for the Commander to acknowledge that he knew of said barrier. When he nodded, the hedgehog continued. "Now, I don't know what you can do or what you're willing to do, but anything will help. In order to stop Eggman, though, there's something else we need to take care of first."

"What might that be?"

"We're looking for a one-of-a-kind antidote. It's a long story that's better left untold, but we need it within the next few days. With help, we can probably get to it on time."

Still pacing, the man thought. "I don't know how much we can do. Many of our soldiers have gone missing, as well, and some have fled in fear of the same. Cowards," he spat. "With our numbers limited, I cannot send them out right now. The best I can do for the time being is put under your control a squad of droids.

"Our control?" Tails asked quietly. "They can listen to us?"

"To a degree, yes. They have been programmed with several commands: combat attack, distance attack, defend, flee, chase, shield, and self-destruct. It's pretty self-explanatory. You say the word, they carry out the action. As they fight foes, they store data in their memory about them so that they can fight them the same way next time. They learn, just like humans would."

"That's sweet!" Sonic said. "Do you have different types, or are they all the same?"

"We have humanoids, beetles, and airplanes available for your use. The humanoids look just like they sound. Some are equipped with guns, other with lasers. Beetles are flying robots. They're boosted by a fan on their underside. Again, some use guns, some use lasers. The gold beetles can do both of those things and teleport. As far as air transportation… we have the Blue Eagle, the Vulkan Fighter, and the G.U.N. Assault Helicopter."

"If we need a plane, I can get the Tornado 2 ready for take off in about an hour," Tails said to Sonic. "I know that seems like a lot of time, but I know _my _planes better than anyone else's. It would take me even more time than that to get used to the controls of a G.U.N. plane."

Sonic nodded and looked at the Commander. "Do you recommend the gold beetles?"

"Absolutely. They're one of the best."

"Then that sounds great. See, all of Eggman's robots that we've come across can fly and are very fast, so a flying teleporter is…"

"Really convenient," Tails finished for him.

"Very well. I'll get a squad of eight activated for you and have them directly outside the front exit as soon as possible."

"All right!" Sonic said enthusiastically. He and Tails thanked the Commander and went back to the elevator, closing the door. "Now we're talking, huh?"

"You bet! This is going to be fun, Sonic! We've never gotten to do something like this."

"Well, if anybody can control a team of robots, it's probably you, Tails! You could probably even repair a damaged one if we need to."

"I bet I could. Too bad we don't have time to mess with things like that, though. Otherwise, I could probably take those beetles and make them even stronger!"

"Hey, we better get down there," the hedgehog said, realizing that the elevator wasn't going anywhere. He pressed the Floor-1 button and they began to descend. When it opened up a few seconds later, the two headed for the exit. On the way out, though, Sonic stopped and turned around to face Kay. She hadn't moved an inch since they had last seen her, as far as the hedgehog could tell.

"Hey," Sonic said gently, getting her attention. She looked up at him, raising her eyebrows slightly. Then he uttered three words she never expected. "I'll find him."

Kay gasped, and for the first time, Sonic saw real emotion in her face. "I… no… I couldn't ask you to do that." She shook her head, eyes already shining with unshed tears.

"You don't have to ask," Sonic said simply. He winked, then turned and left the building. Tails followed, offering Kay a smile on the way out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From an air vent in the wall, a sneaky white bat watched as Sonic and Tails made their leave. An opportunity had presented itself in front of her face, and she wasn't about to let that opportunity out of her sight.

_They have two beautiful emeralds in their possession. Could those be the remaining legendary Chaos Emeralds?_

A too-smug smile pulled at Rouge's lips.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well, we got this far. Now what?" Tails asked. "We don't know where we're going."

"Hang on, bro, let's figure out how to work these things first. We'll have to get a few set up near the edges of the barrier before we get too far, anyway."

"The fastest thing alive is telling me to slow down when we're going to die in about a week." Tails declared to the atmosphere. "Something is wrong with this picture. Sonic, now's the time when you're supposed to be a little worried!"

"Why should I be worried? Getting all frantic isn't going to make things any better," Sonic said nonchalantly. "Now's the time when you're supposed to keep calm and do what has to be done."

"But we don't _know _what has to be done to find the antidote," Tails reminded him.

"Exactly. So all we can do right now is try to fix the things we _do _know about, like the barrier, until we think of a way to find the antidote."

_Hard to argue. _"Okay, let's go station some of these guys at the barrier, then," the fox agreed. "Maybe they can weaken it. Or maybe they'll attack Eggman when he comes back—"

"If he's not back already," Sonic said.

"Right," Tails said. He didn't understand the significance behind Sonic's words until he followed the hedgehog's gaze. Then he saw them. By now, though, he was beyond surprise. He slumped his shoulders and a sigh of tedium escaped his throat. "Lethal Frisbees?"

"Looks like it. I guess now's a good time to test these beetles out, huh?"

"Wait! Sonic, something's… off. Can you see them good from here?"

"The Frisbees? They look the same as usual to me," Sonic said. He squinted in their direction, then looked back at Tails. "But your eyesight's better than mine. What do you see?"

"The blades spinning around on the sides are way longer," the fox told him. "And _sharper _looking. And… whoa, did I just see sparks?"

"Sparks? Like, electricity?"

"Yeah. And there's a lot of 'em. Look at all of those!"

As the robots approached, Sonic saw just what kind of danger they were in. There were at least two dozen of the saw-like discs, and these ones actually _did _look lethal. "Heh, we must have really pissed Eggman off," Sonic laughed.

"I think that was a stupid move on his part, though," Tails said. "He just let us know he's back inside the barrier again. Wait – do you think he could get back inside the barrier?"

"If he's the one who set it up, then he probably knows how get through it. But there'll be a better time and place to figure this one out. They're getting closer."

"What should we tell the beetles to do, Sonic?"

"Attack!" the hedgehog hollered, not only answering Tails' question but commanding their robots forward. All eight of the golden beetles rushed ahead, their screaming engines getting louder as they accelerated. They were fast.

As the beetles blocked the Frisbees' paths several hundred feet ahead, more sparks emitted from the latter in preparation to attack. Seconds later, there was the sound of metal and electricity clashing, and it was like nails on a chalkboard. Amidst the chaos, a few of the Frisbees dodged around their foes. Neither Sonic nor Tails noticed until they were speeding towards them, blades spinning in a blur and electricity cackling.

"If that's how you want to play it!" Sonic said, and jumped in the air. As he descended, he brought his head down to his knees and somersaulted through the air. His quills flared outwards threateningly. Even if those robots' blades did hit him, he would do just as much damage to them with his _own _blades…

The Frisbee he had been aiming for sparked the voltage as soon as the hedgehog made contact, electrocuting him on the spot. The zap wasn't enough to cause injury, but it was enough to stop his progression, allowing the robot to zip away as Sonic fell to the ground.

"You okay?" Tails asked from the air, looking down at his friend.

"It's… it's all good," Sonic called back, getting to his feet. He stumbled twice trying to regain his balance. Tails watched him until he was standing up straight again, making sure he really was okay. "I'm fine," the hedgehog reassured, sounding more certain of himself.

Then Tails burst out laughing.

"Uh…" Sonic arched an eyebrow at the hysterical fox, who looked rather ridiculous holding his stomach like that in mid-flight, and asked, "Uh, is there something stuck in my teeth?"

"Wow, Sonic…" Tails said between chuckles. "I've seen you get electrocuted before, but… your _fur_!"

"Huh?" Confused, the hedgehog looked down at himself. Then he understood Tails's uncontrollable laughter; every little strand of fur was standing up on end, some of them even emitting sparks. In his mind's eye, he caught a glimpse of how stupid he probably looked.

"It's… it's never… had that effect before," Tails forced out.

"I skidded on the ground," Sonic said to himself, shaking his head at the joy Tails was obviously getting out of his pain. "It must have made me more static-y."

"S-sorry, Sonic," the fox said, finally beginning to calm down. "But you should see yourself. You look like an actual wild hedgehog rather than an anthropomorphic one!"

Sonic gave in to a smile, rolling his eyes, and smoothed the fur on his head with one hand. "Why don't you try?" He joked. "This look would go even better on you. You have more fur."

"Heh, I'll pass, thanks."

"Hey, the robots aren't attacking us anymore," Sonic realized. He looked around, and saw that the two Frisbees that they had been fighting a minute ago were now a good distance away, fighting against one of their beetles.

"Those things are pretty good, huh?" Tails asked rhetorically. "Ours, I mean. It must've known we were in danger!"

"Now's where we make our escape," Sonic said. "Our bots should stall them. Eventually, the Frisbees will realize they're beat and hopefully flee back to wherever Eggman is."

"Oh, I know where you're going with this! We're going to watch from afar, right, and follow one of Eggman's bots to see where it heads?"

"Great minds think alike, huh?"

"Yeah! If this works, we'll get led straight to Eggman! Then we can find our cure!"

Sonic nodded, and they made a run for it. The hedgehog let Tails run on his own, but stayed close to his side… just in case it was necessary. Unfortunately for them, the Lethal Discs detected their absence almost immediately. It wasn't long before they were caught in another game of cat and mouse.

"That could've gone better," Tails said.

"Could've gone worse," Sonic countered, glancing over his shoulder. "Check it out. Our beetles stopped all but one."

Tails grinned, also looking behind him at the single robot. "We can beat that thing, can't we?"

"No sweat!" Sonic said, brimming with confidence. "If we wanted to. But we don't want to destroy it. We just want to scare it enough to make it flee."

"You think Eggman would've programmed these guys to fly straight back to him, though? That isn't very smart."

"That's what we're going to find out! Stick by me, okay? I'm going to run into that old building up ahead. That bot can only go so fast with four walls surrounding us…"

"So can you," Tails remarked. The hedgehog only laughed as he darted through the door of the building, Tails by his side, the Frisbee at their heels…

…But like nearly everything else had been lately, the plan didn't go as planned. Whether it was a slight error in the robot's system or a completely intended move, neither of them ever knew… but instead of following them into the trap, the robot slammed into the unstable front wall of the building and blew up.

Sonic and Tails didn't realize what was happening until it was already upon them… literally. The robot's explosion had made a huge hole in the already weak building, and it was about to collapse on top of them. Frantically, Sonic looked for another way out: a door, a window, a hole, anything. But luck continued to work against them. Despite the hedgehog's incredible speed, he knew he wouldn't be able to get up enough momentum fast enough to break through one of the still-standing walls.

Only half a second had passed before realization struck both of them like lightning: they weren't escaping this one unharmed. Simultaneously, they dove toward each other, both wanting to protect the other. Instead, they clashed in the middle and fell to the ground. Huge masses of brick and ceiling rained down on them – the thunder that inevitably accompanied the lightning. The two of them rolled over on their fronts.

"Sonic!" Tails called, frightened for both of their sakes. He had his appendages curled over his body instinctively, but they weren't doing much good.

Sonic's eyes had squeezed themselves shut reflexively. Now, he opened one – just in time to see a huge chunk of a wooden beam land six inches in front of his nose. For a second, he fervently wished to destroy it for scaring the crap out of him, but then something clicked. "Tails, help me," he demanded in a strained exhale, somehow managing to slip his fingers underneath the beam. The fox obliged quickly. The adrenaline rush both of them were undoubtedly experiencing proved to be just enough to lift the thing off the ground. In a matter of moments, the former threat had been turned into a shield.

All in all, it took about fifteen seconds for the building to fall. They were some of the longest seconds of Sonic's and Tails's lives.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sonic was faintly aware of a violent shaking sensation. Or, he supposed it would have seemed violent, if he were _more _aware. He also noticed a strange, painful ache in his forehead, something akin to a migraine.

And then it was really, really bright.

"Eugh… sunglasses…" he muttered.

"Sonic, you're—no, don't close your eyes again. Sonic!" The voice he heard sounded distant, like it was hollering for him across a large, empty room. The shaking increased. He opened his eyes again. He wanted to raise his hand and slap away whatever or whoever was causing these vibrations, but he couldn't feel his hand.

"Quit it," he said. The shaking stopped.

"Sonic, it's me, Tails. Hey. Sonic?"

"Tails. I'm tryin' t' sleep, bro. I'll pull the quills outta the couch in the mornin', m'kay?"

There was a chuckle. It still sounded distant, but it was coming closer. "Sonic… er… if this honestly feels like my couch, I'd better buy a softer one pronto."

_What?_ The sentence Tails had spoken was confusing enough to bring the hedgehog back to the surface. Sonic opened his eyes all the way, trying to blink away the fuzz in front of them, and inhaled a slow breath.

"Sonic?" Tails sounded and looked as close as he actually was now, despite a little blurriness. Sonic's pupils finally focused on his friend's face, which was peering down into his own worriedly.

"I'm back," the hedgehog said, letting him know he was actually awake this time. "Sorry…" He paused, tilting his head to look at the 'couch' beneath him. "Hardened dirt and dry grass. Where are…"

"Just a little ways from that building."

Lifting his head a few inches, Sonic looked around. He could see several of Central City's hotels and restaurants nearby. Then what Tails had said came into stark context: they weren't trapped under the ruined building anymore. "You… we're… you got me out?"

"I had to. You were unconscious and covered in debris. Heavy debris. That beam must've not been all the way on your head, 'cause something hit it."

_That explains the headache. _"How about you?" Sonic asked, his sentences regaining some coherency. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Some bruises here and there…" Tails deliberated, looking away. "Maybe a few bumps, scrapes, cuts… nothing broken, though."

"The beetles?"

"We still have six of them. And all the Frisbees were destroyed."

Sonic pressed his palms on the ground, pushing himself into a half sitting position, then wiggled his legs. "Nothing broken here, either," he said. Then, moaning and grunting, he got to his feet.

"Careful, Sonic, you've been out of it for quite a while," Tails warned.

"How long?"

"A few hours, at least. The sun will start setting soon."

"Then we have to get going," Sonic said obviously. Before either of them could act on his words, though, a third voice interrupted from behind them.

"Not so fast, boys."

Sonic and Tails whirred around to face the intruder. Neither of them expected what they saw: a female bat, white in color and sporting a tight-fitting outfit. She had the right shape to make it work, though. The slowly descending sun cast a shadow of her profile on a building not too far away; she was wearing so much mascara her eyelashes were visible in the silhouette. Her unnaturally red lips curved into a cunning smile.

As the shapely female approached them, Sonic couldn't imagine what in the world she would need to talk to them about. And judging by that smile, he couldn't help but wonder whether or not he really wanted to know.

She continued to walk until her body was six inches from Sonic's, and her expression showed that she had no shame in doing so. Then she said, "I'm Rouge the bat. It's nice to see you again."

Immediately, Sonic could feel Tails's confused eyes on him. He reached up and scratched a quill absentmindedly, then asked, "Again? I've never seen you in my life."

"Ah. But I've seen you, Sonic."

_She knows my name, she's seen me before, and she's standing way too close to me. Does she have a boyfriend that looks a lot like me and has the same name?_

Sonic shook his head and backed away. "Good for you. Nice meeting you. Tails?"

"Yup, let's get going. Got to hurry up and go to that… um…" As Tails stared at Rouge, his acting skills from the other day suddenly jumped out the window and committed suicide. "That, um, thing."

"Oh, please," Rouge said. "What's up with guys these days? Why're they all so shy?" When Sonic and Tails failed to provide her with an answer, she continued with a completely different subject. "Ah, who cares. You're looking for something, am I right?"

"How—"

"Oh, forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself _properly_." The female reached into… somewhere… and pulled out a card. "I'm Rouge the bat, spy for G.U.N. I'll skip the rest of the professional stuff from there and give you the short version: I can help you find what you're looking for… for a price."

"Well," Sonic said tentatively, growing suspicious. "How do you even know what we're looking for?"

"Spy," she reminded him. "It's an antidote, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Any other information you'd like to share?"

To both of their surprise, Tails spoke up, interrupting the conversation. "Hey, can I see your card really quick?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your G.U.N. card. Do you mind if I look at it?"

Rouge chuckled, knowing very well why the fox wanted to see it. "Of course, darling. But I assure you, you don't need that to know you can trust me." Nevertheless, Rouge handed Tails her card. Both her and Sonic waited.

"It's real," the fox mumbled after a moment, handing it back. "Sorry. It's just…"

"I know, I know, you're not the first one," Rouge said. "Anyway… would you like my help?"

"What kind of price are we talking?" Sonic asked, arms folded.

"Nothing much, really. In fact, I think you may have it on you. You see, I'm quite the gem collector… and I know of seven legendary stones that I'm sure you're aware of; Chaos Emeralds. I have always wanted the Master Emerald, but… I suppose I can settle for something a little less."

What Rouge had said sparked something in the hedgehog's memory. "You tried to steal it a couple years back, didn't you? Knux had left me in charge of it while he helped Tails with his plane. I remember having to take it and get it away from you. You're a thief."

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't cheat you now," Rouge assured. "I would lose my job. Either way… you two have a lot to lose if you don't find what you need, am I right?"

Sonic sighed. "So you want a Chaos Emerald?"

"Yes," Rouge said, sensing Sonic's suspicion. "Very much. That's not much to ask, is it, hedgehog?"

Sonic turned to his friend, who already knew the question he was about to ask and gave his opinion. "Sonic, we only have a few days. I think we should chance it. It's not like the Chaos Emeralds are going to be of much use to us anyway, with the barrier and all."

Sonic nodded in agreement and somewhat reluctantly turned back to the bat, who was watched them with an amused expression. "Okay, Rouge," he said, taking out one of their two Chaos Emeralds. A small part of him that was reserved for situations where he actually had to be careful floated to the surface. He ignored it, throwing caution to the wind. This could be the only chance they had.

"Oh, my, what a beauty…"

As Rouge took the gem and began to ogle, Sonic tapped a foot impatiently. She took her sweet time with her eye candy before looking up at him again. "So the pact is sealed, then?"

"Just tell me where to sign."


	16. Chapter 16: The Chaos Drive

**I had the updating-on-time thing down pretty good for a while, but with mid-terms last week, I didn't have a lot of free time on my hands, so this one's a little late. Not the longest of all chapters, but it's got a significant role, so hopefully you don't mind it. Enjoy!**

CHAPTER 16: The Chaos Drive.

Rouge jumped, startled, at the sound of an obnoxious beeping coming from her pocket. Slowing to an impatient stop in the middle of her path and sighing dramatically, she raised her communicator to her mouth.

"What?" She asked, skipping the pleasantries.

The voice of the man on the other end of the connection was annoyed and tired. "Rouge, where are you? You were supposed to be on duty tonight."

The bat frowned. "Lieutenant, I'm doing my job."

"Rouge, for once, do not argue with me. G.U.N. is running low on people; you being off on your own doesn't help. I expect you to be back in…"

"Wait! Sir, I'm in Doctor Eggman's hideout as we speak. I know I didn't have your permission, but you can't make me turn down my client now."

A sigh. "Jewelry of some sort is involved in this, isn't it?"

"No!" Rouge snapped, and it wasn't a lie; Chaos Emeralds weren't technically jewelry. "Sir, think logically. If I'm already here, what's the point in demanding me to come back? I've made it this far. Let me finish the job."

The lieutenant considered. A few seconds passed in silence. "Fine. I expect a significant amount of information on what that insane mechanic is up to when you return," he said. "Don't come back without finding something out."

"Harsh," Rouge muttered under her breath, low enough so that only she could hear it. Then she rolled her eyes and said to the lieutenant, "Fine. Rouge out."

Tucking the communicator away, Rouge continued on. She brushed an arm across her face as she walked; it was extremely hot. Of course, given that she was walking through a tunnel on the inside a volcano, it was hard to be surprised. All the same, she couldn't help but wonder if she should have had a water bottle on hand.

Rouge reached the end of the winding hallway. There was a steel door blocking her path (with Eggman's mug on it, predictably), but fortunately, it was able to be unlocked from the outside. She pulled out a lock pick – one of many tools she always had handy – and professionally opened the door in a matter of seconds.

What lie on the other side wasn't as encouraging as she'd hoped: another path to follow. This one, though, hadn't formed naturally. Judging by the man-made material that formed the walls, floor and ceiling, Eggman had built it in. There were orange-tinted lights going along the top corners of the tunnel-like structure, but they weren't bright; it was just enough to be able to see.

There was a lit sign at the end of the next hall; a directory. In a small area of her mind, Rouge wondered why it was there. Did Eggman _want _someone to find him? She pushed the thought aside – that wasn't why she was here. She was here to locate Eggman and, if it existed, an antidote.

_But where to go first…?_

"Hm, the security compartment," she muttered quietly to herself as she came across it on the directory. She looked at the accompanying digital map. According to that, it was only a room away. And also according to the digital map, Eggman was currently in it. Jackpot.

The only problem left: she couldn't just barge in with Eggman there. She would have to get him out, or do something sneaky.

Cupping her chin in her hand as she thought, Rouge peeked into the next area. She could see the door she was looking for up ahead. A clever idea occurred to hear, as it usually did, and she looked up at the ceiling.

It was made out of steel tiles – extremely convenient for her plan. Smiling, she boosted herself up there with a few swishes of her wings, and lifted a tile. She crawled up into the hole and found herself in a pipe, as expected. It was tight but left room for movement, and she began to crawl.

The circular tunnel, Rouge could see, went straight ahead to her destination. Quickly, she reached the end of her route, and from the air vent at the top of the security area's wall, she did what she was best at: spied.

Eggman was doing something on a computer in one corner of the room. Luckily for Rouge, his back was to her, and he wasn't blocking any of the security screens. Rouge counted them; two dozen, which meant there were two dozen cameras scattered throughout the place. She realized as she looked at them that she wasn't even _in _the base yet – only Eggman's little work center.

Rouge squinted, peering through the openings of the vent to get a better view. A few of the cameras showed paths throughout the volcano, some showed storage areas for his vehicles and robots, and others still watched single rooms. Three of these rooms in particular caught Rouge's eye.

One was empty, which was what made it interesting. Rouge wondered if it had a purpose, or if it was just an extra area Eggman hadn't found a use for yet.

The next room had a five-lock door that just screamed, "there's something important behind me! I'm guarding something important!" Rouge raised her eyebrows, already having an idea of what was hidden behind that door…

And as she took a closer look at the third screen that caught her interest, she was proved correct. Sitting in the very center of the room, in a small cup-like apparatus that held it upright, was a single red tube. The cameras were high-quality, so she could even see the liquid inside.

_I've seen something like this before, under one of G.U.N.'s investigations several years ago, _the bat recalled to herself. _A Chaos Drive. Mysterious liquid infused with specific Chaos properties, used to empower or rejuvenate machines or living beings. There's no doubt about it – this has to be the antidote._

Satisfied, Rouge stealthily backed away from the vent. She knew what she needed to know: Eggman was here and the antidote was here. Hopefully, the former bit would be enough to satisfy the lieutenant. And if it didn't, she knew she'd be able to talk her way out of trouble as always. It was time to report back to her clients.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was the middle of the night, but Tails wasn't even close to sleeping. Instead, he was in his garage, shaping up the Tornado 2 – just in case they needed it. But there was another purpose to the fox's tinkering, one that didn't have anything to do with the convenience of having a plane: something to do. Tails knew that even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to sleep. He was too wound up, too agitated, and too scared to relax. Adjusting and improving his machines was the only distraction available to him.

Sonic had left Tails to his work, since he didn't know enough about machines to help, and went for a jog. That had been nearly an hour ago, so the fox wasn't surprised when a soft thud on the roof above him disrupted his focus. He smiled a little that his friend was back; while Sonic's confidence was still unwavering, he wasn't quite as optimistic, and so the hedgehog's safe return was a source of relief.

As Tails began to put his tools away, a part of him began to wonder why Sonic had just left him _alone _for the past hour… when they were already so close to never being able to see each other again. He wanted to make up some mental excuse for his friend's behavior, but the truth was, Sonic's action had _stung._ The thought continued to press at his mind, and by the time he was done putting things away, he wanted to find out.

Sonic walked into the garage just as Tails was about to walk out, and they ran into each other. "Whoops," Tails said, and they both apologized simultaneously.

"So, how's it going with the Tornado 2?" The hedgehog asked, leaning on the door frame casually.

Tails noticed his friend's relaxed position, and again wondered _why. _"Good," he said. "It should operate just fine if we need it."

"That's good to hear."

"Sonic, I was wondering about something," Tails began without warning. Sonic's eyebrows raised in curiosity, and he nodded at him to continue. The fox did so, not asking his question directly but instead taking a guess at what was going through the hedgehog's mind. "Do you really believe we're poisoned, or do you think it's all a distraction to keep us off Eggman's heels?"

Sonic smiled, but it wasn't out of any real happiness as much as it was gentle understanding and slight reluctance. "Blood tests don't lie, Tails."

Several emotions fleeted across the fox's face, starting with confusion and ending with disappointment as the fox frowned. "Oh yeah, almost forgot about those."

Taking in his friend's disturbed expression, Sonic offered a sympathetic smile. "Still don't want to believe it, do you?"

"Huh? Oh… it's not that. I… I know we're poisoned," Tails clarified. Sonic just listened, a look of slight amusement coming over his face.

"Then why'd you ask?" He wondered aloud, as Tails hadn't yet continued.

"I'm… just trying to figure out why none of this seems to bother you, that's all. I wondered if maybe you thought this was all a trick of Eggman's, because that would explain everything."

Sonic cocked his head, surprised and a little concerned at how much Tails was thinking about this. "Stop worrying so much; we still have some time. None of this is worth worrying about right now."

For the first time, Tails's voice wasn't merely _worried_ – it was downright hopeless. "Then what _is _worth worrying about?"

Sonic laughed once. It was a laugh of irony. "If you figure out the answer to that, let me know."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, let's follow your logic," he suggested. "Let's say we really _do _only have a few days left, hypothetically. If that's so, still, the last thing I'd want to do is spend them all stressed."

Tails opened his mouth to say something, probably an argument or a question, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. They both paused.

"Rouge must be back," Sonic said. "That only took a few hours. Wonder if that means she found something."

"Time to go find out, I guess," Tails said. His tone suggested he had attempted to sound somewhat confident, but it came out distorted in a way that made it sound bored and lifeless, with the optimism almost hopelessly buried beneath. He went to answer the door, and Sonic followed behind him.

Rouge was in the workshop as soon as the door was out of her way, wiping her feet on the rug and making herself at home. "Hey, guys," she said, grinning the same sly smirk as before. Sonic was beginning to wonder if it was really _sly _or if that was just her natural smile.

"Uh, come sit down…?" Tails offered, not even sure if it was really necessary to do so since the bat already seemed pretty comfortable in _his _house. Rouge followed them (or was it the other way around?) to the living room. Sonic and Tails sat next to each other on the sofa, and Rouge sat in a chair parallel to them. Sonic crossed his feet on the table in front of them.

"So, here's the scoop," Rouge began, jumping right to the point. The other two, surprised she had skipped the small-talk, gave her their undivided attention, eyes widening in shocked anticipation. Even Sonic showed subtle signs of tension now, his jaw locking shut as Rouge delivered to them their fate.

"As entertaining as it would be to keep you on the edge of your seat while I go through all the details, I'm not going to do that to you," Rouge told them. "I'll just give this to you straight: Eggman is back, and he has your cure."

There were a few ridiculously long seconds of stunned silence, as if the atmosphere itself was waiting for the catch. Then Tails broke the silence with a gasp, eyes widening, before breaking into a huge smile and turning to Sonic, who was already giving him the I-told-you-so look.

"However," the bat continued, and both males turned back toward her, hearing the expected condition in her voice, "I couldn't retrieve it for you. I only saw it on Eggman's security cameras. It's in the heart of his base, which I had no idea how to reach, and I'm pretty sure there's a lock system you'll have to overcome. I would have picked it, but they were combination locks."

"Base, huh? Big surprise," Sonic said dryly. "Hopefully this one's not as boring as the rest have been lately. Where is it?"

"It's in a volcano," she said. "Deep inside a volcano. You'll have to go in it to get to the actual base. It's really hot, and tricky to navigate. A radar would be handy, and…"

She continued on, explaining the layout and throwing a few tips in, but Sonic wasn't hearing any of it. His mind had stopped registering her voice after the word 'volcano.'

_Why is déjà vu striking so hard…?_

"…I went through the pipes, but I'm not sure if you'll be able to get inside the actual _base _part of the base from there. Somehow I doubt it, but there's no security in the pipes, so—"

"Rouge, wait," Tails interrupted, holding up a finger. "Sonic? You with us, here?"

"No," Sonic replied honestly, his expression remaining blank and detached.

"Is something wrong?" The fox pushed, encouraging Sonic to explain.

Yes. Something was wrong. "Tails, you remember that day when we had nothing to do—"

"There were a lot of those," the fox pointed out.

"I know. But I'm talking about one day in particular. You were hanging around here, and I'd gone for a run. The day I found the one Emerald and ended up falling on my face." Sonic's mouth pulled up at one corner for a brief moment at the presently funny memory, but the almost-smile disappeared as he suddenly wished he had that day back. _If only I had known…_

"Heh, right," Tails said, nodding and giggling a little.

The hedgehog didn't miss a beat. "I saw a volcano on my run that day."

The entire house was suddenly so quiet you could hear a clock ticking down the hall.

And then, the most obvious question: "You… did?"

Sonic looked away, his optimism visibly faltering for the briefest moment. "I remember thinking, 'how weird, there aren't many volcanoes around here.' I just blew it off, thinking it was nothing."

"Well, who would think anything of it?" Tails said. "It's not suspicious. You didn't _have _a reason to think anything of it."

"I know. Still, to know how close we were to the antidote… it makes me wish we would have found all this out earlier. But, I guess that doesn't matter now, not anymore." He looked back up, determination shining bright in his eyes. "Tails! We have to get going, now."

The two friends locked eyes for less than a moment, but it was enough time for them to see their fortitude being reflected right back at them through the other person. This was it, the now-or-never moment, and they both knew it.

In the next second, everyone was on their feet. Sonic and Tails thanked Rouge and then Tails led the way to the garage. "The Tornado 2's set to go. Let's hit it."


	17. Chapter 17: Taking its Toll

**Here's Chapter 17, a month after 16. I didn't mean to take this long, but my busy life has had me distracted lately and I lost track of time. I'm thinking 18 will be quicker, but since we're nearing the climax, I'm not going to rush anything. Be patient! ;)**

CHAPTER 17: Taking its Toll

"I _really _hope we're getting closer..." Tails mumbled, more to himself than Sonic, keeping his head facing forward as he flew the Tornado. He could hear his own heart beat, but in his mind, it didn't represent life like it should have. It sounded more like the second hand on a clock, ticking away the time in a quiet room, letting its echo resonate...

His eyes at the same level as the back of Tails' seat, Sonic stood up to look over the obstruction and at the ground below. The smooth, beautiful canyons stretched out over the land for miles and miles, appearing to meet with the deep orange sky off in the infinite distance. He thought he could see the volcano he had come across weeks ago, but he wasn't positive. "We are," he said simply, hoping he was right.

The sun had managed to peek over the horizon just before Sonic and Tails had taken off in the fox's plane, leaving Rouge almost literally in their dust. Numerous precious hours had passed since then, because even the silky smooth Tornado 2 couldn't reach their destination as fast as Sonic had before. What the hedgehog had done in half an hour was taking several many times as long now.

But since he had forgotten which direction he had run to get to the canyons the first time, taking the comparably slow plane had been the option of choice. The view was much better from up high, so finding the canyons had been relatively easy, if still time-consuming.

At that point, though, even the supersonic speed of the hedgehog's legs would have seemed time-consuming to them.

"I keep getting this... this nagging feeling that something else is gonna go wrong," Tails thought aloud. "I mean, getting through whatever Eggman's whipped up shouldn't seem like a problem, since he's pretty predictable. But with the plane crash, the flying robots, the building collapse and everything else that came out of nowhere in the past few weeks..."

Sonic sat back down, blinking away the dots that the bright sky had created in front of his eyes. "Ah, don't be that way. It's not like we're jinxed," he said. "'Sides, we've figured out as much as we can. If we just keep to our plan... well, the rest should take care of itself."

The fox began to nod in agreement, then paused. "What plan?"

"The plan we're going to come up with right now since we have no better way to kill time," Sonic replied casually.

Tails raised his eyebrows skeptically, though Sonic couldn't see it. "A _plan?_" He repeated in mock disgust. "You? A plan?"

"Even _I'm _not ridiculous enough to be spontaneous at this point," Sonic said as way of explanation. His tone was partially humorous and partially serious as he continued, "After all, we could die tomorrow, for all we know."

Tails's mouth hung open limply and his mind began to go numb with terror. His obnoxiously cocky best friend had _not _just said that. "No, Sonic! Don't think like that, we _can't _think like—" The fox abruptly broke off in mid-sentence, then rolled his eyes, almost feeling Sonic's satisfied grin on the back of his head_. _"Oh," he mumbled. "Reverse psychotherapy. I get it."

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" The hedgehog asked innocently. "C'mon, man, lighten up!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Tails muttered, not sure whether to be stubborn or submissive. He decided on the latter. "You're right. See the volcano yet?"

Sonic, realizing his attention had been drawn away from the canyons below, peered around Tails's seat again. "No – wait – yup! Do a 150 to the left. We just passed it."

Tails nodded and looped back around, drawing a U in the sky. "All right, I see it now, too." The fox began to steer the plane downward. Both of them could see the volcano clearly now, coming closer every second. "And Sonic, you're going to want to hang on really tight this time. I want to try something."

"Hey, don't kill us before we're dead!" The hedgehog joked, or at least tried to; the plane made a loud banging sound, chopping off the end of his sentence. "Whoa! Not _another _plane cr_…_"

"Don't worry, it's supposed to do that," Tails assured. "Hold on, I told you!"

Sonic actually fastened himself in – something he rarely did in Tails's planes – and pressed himself against the back of his seat. As more loud noises from below could be heard, he realized that the engine wasn't giving out like he'd first thought; the plane was reassembling itself in midair!

The wings began to retract into pockets Sonic hadn't even noticed before, and below them, out of view, two huge metal limbs began to jut out from the underside. Then, as Tails pushed his foot down on an unfamiliar pedal, white-hot flames burst out from an area behind the legs, supporting all of the plane's weight. The fox let it hover there for a moment, ascertaining that it would remain steady, before releasing the pedal slightly and letting it descend.

"This, Sonic, is the Cyclone!" As he announced the machine's new name proudly, the thing landed on the ground with a metallic thump. Tails grinned, extremely happy with himself, and turned to see Sonic's reaction.

"This… can… walk?" Sonic asked slowly. "It's a _robot?_"

Tails's happy face faltered ever so slightly. Disappointment pinched at his heart strings; Sonic still wasn't mirroring his expression. "What do you think? Isn't it cool?" _He probably thinks it'll be too slow. I wonder if I should've bothered…_

A smile slowly spread over Sonic's face, lifting his features. "Tails, it's incredible!" He exclaimed before the fox's thoughts pushed him into depression any further. "How in the world did you manage to pull this off?"

"We've had a lot of time on our hands recently," the fox said, relieved that Sonic was impressed and a little embarrassed that he still cared so much about his opinion. "And I couldn't sleep most of the time anyway."

Sonic shook his head, uncomprehending. "But… something of _this _magnitude? Just… wow!"

Tails laughed, amazed at Sonic's amazement. "Heh, yeah, I thought it was pretty cool, too. Hopefully it doesn't break down or anything. This _is _my first time trying this. Suppose we should put it to work?"

Sonic gave him a thumbs-up. "You bet!" He looked into the dark path in front of them, and let his hand fall back to his side. Though his face grew serious, it didn't lose its confidence - despite the odds they were up against. "Let's get moving."

Tails nodded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rouge had been right; the volcano was hard to navigate. Some many hours ticked away before they found the directory Rouge had made it to last night. In the privacy of their own minds, both Sonic and Tails wondered if they should've paid better attention to Rouge's description of the place.

There was a steel tile on the ground, and it went without saying that this was indeed where Rouge had been. Both of them climbed out of the Cyclone. Sonic looked up, but because of the dim lighting, he couldn't see the duct that the bat had referred to.

Tails, following the hedgehog's gaze, asked, "Should I go up there? Rouge said we'd be able to spy on Eggman from an air vent."

"If you want to. I'll take a closer look at that thing," Sonic said, gesturing to the digital directory. "Be careful, though. We can't let him hear us."

Tails nodded. "I know." He turned away, so that Sonic wouldn't see the hesitation in his eyes. He should've thought before speaking; it was awfully dark up there, and awfully tight. What if he got trapped somehow, or Eggman spotted him and sent a robot up there? He would have no way to fight back, or to esc—

"Just go," he muttered to himself under his breath, shaking his head as if to clear it. Wiggling away from the fear that seemed to be trying to grasp him, Tails began spinning his namesakes, lifting himself up in the air. At first, he expected pain, having become accustomed to it since he had come out of the coma, but was pleasantly relieved when he remembered that Doctor Michael's medication had virtually diminished the discomfort.

Once in the pipe, the kitsune wasted no time crawling forward. He was a little unnerved, but not frantic; years of hanging out with Sonic and surviving more than most people had to go through in their entire life had taught him exceptional self-control. Still, crawling into what seemed like infinite darkness and not knowing when the light would show up again wouldn't have been a pleasant experience for even _Sonic._

Tails looked behind him, just to make sure he could still see the area he had entered the pipe just a few minutes ago. He couldn't. His heart began to thump against his sternum, but he continued forward. Then, as if he could sense the fox's anxiousness, Sonic asked, "How you doing up there, bro?"

The voice was muffled, since there was a layer of ceiling between them, but the fox's keen sense of hearing picked up the words just fine. "I'm good. What's going on down there?"

"I looked at the map and the directory, and I think I've got it memorized for the most part. Just take a look at the screens once you get to the vent, okay? That's what Rouge said."

"Yup, I know," Tails replied. "I'm almost there. I can see it now."

"Okay. Don't talk anymore now. If Eggman's in there he'll here you."

No longer nervous, Tails crawled faster, his tails dragging along behind him. Finally, he reached the light at the end of the tunnel, literally, and dropped all the way on his front. He slowly began to creep forward toward the vent, cautiously and quietly.

Eggman was staring right at him.

"Ah--!" Tails hardly managed to suppress his gasp, backing up reflexively. Had the mad scientist really seen him, or was it coincidence that he happened to be facing in his general direction? The fox crept forward again, forcing himself to breathe quietly.

Eggman was still staring right at him. It was undeniably creepy, and a shiver went down the fox's spine. He couldn't make eye contact, though – the doctor had sunglasses on as per usual. But he knew he had been caught.

"Sonic…!" He breathed, backing away from the vent. "Sonic… Sonic, answer me…"

"Well, _hi, _Tails," Eggman said, his voice sarcastically friendly. Then the tone changed, became more sincere. "It's been a while since I've seen your face."

No use fleeing now; it was too late. Tails scooted back towards the vent to look at the scientist. There was a strange emotion on his face, one the fox had never seen him reveal before. He realized with a start that it was regret. But when had Eggman ever regretted anything…?

"Tails?" This address belonged to a different voice: Sonic's. Snapping out of his trance, Tails backed away again, not stopping this time.

"Coming, Sonic," Tails said, hoping the hedgehog could hear him. He felt his knees hit a tile, and stopped. Slipping his fingers underneath, he lifted it out of the way and hopped down feet first, landing a few yards behind Sonic. The hedgehog turned around.

"What took?"

"Lengthy pipe," the fox replied, though it took him a little too long. The hesitation went unnoticed by Sonic, so he continued: "Rouge was right about everything. And Eggman _is _in there right now, so we'd better hurry up before he _catches _us." Even as he spoke, Tails was grabbing Sonic's wrist and pulling him back towards the Cyclone. Sonic didn't resist.

Upon reaching the machine, they saw that their golden beetles had caught up to them – the six that were left, anyway. They hopped in the plane-robot hybrid and headed around the back of the area Eggman was in, the beetles silently following. There, a laser fence blocked off the path. "This is why Rouge couldn't go any further," Sonic said. He looked at Tails. "Any idea how to deactivate it?"

"Nope," the fox said, and marched the Cyclone towards it, prepared to set off the alarm.

"What're you doing? He'll know we're in here!" Sonic said, standing up from his seat.

_He already does, _Tails thought but didn't say. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and said, "Who cares?" Then, continuing forward, he went through the fence.

The alarm was sounding as soon as the Cyclone's nose touched it. Almost immediately after, Sonic shouted, "Go!" and reached for the controls, making the Cyclone run.

"Whoa!" Tails jumped and ripped his hands away from the controls, turning to look at Sonic, horrified. "Sonic, settle _down_ – what're you _doing_?"

"The door's coming down!" The hedgehog hollered, pointing forward. Tails looked up; ahead of them, a metal sliding door was descending from the ceiling, ready to block their path.

_If we hit a dead end now…_

Tails looked around frantically, hands hovering over the panel, and then he saw it: the drive button. Not wasting time, he slammed his hand down on it, and the robot boosted forward. Flames shot out from behind it.

They made it under the door by a few inches. There were two sighs of relief.

"We're not done yet," Sonic warned, reaching his hand around Tails's seat again to press the boost button, this time holding it down. They accelerated to intensely high speeds, rushing underneath another several falling blockades.

Tails grabbed Sonic's hand and pulled it away. "The boost drive needs time to cool down," he warned. "You can't hold it down forever, it's only meant to be in quick bursts…"

"It's the only option!" Sonic said quickly, pulling away from Tails and hitting the button repeatedly, despite the fox's warning. "C'mon…"

"Sonic, it's not going to make it…"

"Yes it _will!_" He argued, hammering his hand down on the boost knob. It seemed to take forever, but they finally made it past _one _more door… _two _more…

…And just as they went under the last one, the falling obstruction knocked against the top of the Cyclone, throwing it off balance. It fell on its side, throwing Sonic and Tails out of it and onto the ground.

But they had made it.

For nearly a minute, it was silent as Sonic and Tails recovered from the close call – and the semi-crash. Then, Sonic rolled over and began to sit up, supporting his weight with his hands. "Interesting welcome," he muttered. "Exciting and engaging." He pushed himself to his feet, unharmed as far as he could tell, and then helped Tails up.

"Haha," the fox said, grinning sarcastically at Sonic. Then he looked behind him, eyebrows raising. "I think the Cyclone's stuck."

Sonic opened his mouth to say something, but before he had a chance, the six beetles drifted over towards the disabled machine and began pulling it out from underneath the half-closed door. As the thing was dragged, the sound it made against the floor was like nails on a chalkboard. Sonic and Tails covered their ears.

After a few seconds, the Cyclone was free and the blockade slammed all the way down. The six beetles hovered back towards Sonic and Tails.

"That's convenient," the fox said, smiling at the robots as if they could register his gratitude. He looked at Sonic and chuckled. "Hey, uh, you can take your hands off your ears now, you know."

Sonic didn't move. His eyes were closed as he stood there, clutching his head.

Tails laughed again, amused. "Sonic, seriously. The noise is done." Still, Sonic had no response, and it finally occurred to Tails that the hedgehog might not be joking around. His ears drooped down a little and his expression became uneasy as he approached his friend. "Sonic?"

Cautiously and gently, he tapped Sonic on the shoulder. Only then did he finally open his eyes. Something about them looked off, Tails realized, but he wasn't sure what.

"S…Sorry…" Sonic mumbled, almost inaudibly, slowly raising his jade green orbs to make eye contact with the fox. It all seemed like it took _way _more effort than it should have.

Tails's own eyes gleamed with concern. "What's wrong?" He asked quietly, becoming unnerved.

"I just have… a really… bad headache." As he answered the fox, Sonic dropped his face into his hands, massaging his forehead and temples. "Don't know what brought it on…" Tails had to struggle a little to hear him now, as his voice was muffled by his hands. "But it… _really _hurts…"

A chill ran down the fox's spine. Suddenly he understood what was going on. He wished he didn't, though. He didn't want to understand. "Wait…" he said, carefully removing one of Sonic's hands from his head so he could look at him. "Sonic," he began, slowly but very deliberately, "I thought there were no symptoms until you were _close _to death…"

"That's what… Eggman said, isn't it?" Sonic recalled. "But… _when _we were destined to die… wasn't set in stone. It was approximate. It's been – what? – twenty-four, twenty-five days?" Sonic let his other hand slowly fall to his side now; the pain seemed to be diminishing for the time being. Tails, though, didn't notice this, and his face crunched in panic.

"You're not saying…!"

Sonic shook his head slowly. "No, I'm not. We haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately, or eaten much. It's… it's probably just taking its toll." The hedgehog smiled, hoping to reassure Tails, who nodded in agreement. It was a valid point, after all.

But he couldn't quite reassure himself.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours passed without another incident. For that matter, they passed without just about anything – and even Tails was growing bored.

"You know, I've come to find that I expect excitement when we wind up in one of Eggman's bases," the fox said. "This is just a straight path of… path."

Sonic sighed in relief. "I've been dying for you to say that. What do ya say we leave the Cyclone here for now and I run us down the rest of this thing? The wind'll cool us off, that's for sure."

For a moment, Tails looked like he might agree; he was visibly sweating from the volcano's heat. Then he bit his lip. "But your head hurt earlier. Exertion might make it happen again."

Sonic rolled his eyes; they had had some variation of this conversation at least twice already. "Come _on. _It's been hours. I'm tellin' you, it was just lack of sleep. I'll be fine."

Tails refused to give in. "You don't know that. Besides, the Cyclone can help us get past the security in this place. And the robots. I don't want to leave it behind."

"What security?" Sonic mumbled. "What robots?"

"Hey… up there," Tails said suddenly, ignoring Sonic's question. "Is that a new area?"

"It probably leads to another endless hallway like the last four have," Sonic said, folding his arms impatiently. "This is ridiculous. What in the world was Eggman _thinking_?"

The fox shook his head. "I see lasers. Lots of 'em, too!"

Finally, Sonic smiled. "Now you're talking. Give us a boost up there."

Tails hesitated but obliged, and in a matter of seconds the Cyclone reached the end of the hallway. There, the path opened up into a much larger room, one which had natural walls rather than Eggman's steel ones. It looked almost cave-like, and the only source of light was the laser maze that lay before them.

"I think this is where the Cyclone has to stay behind," Sonic insisted. "It won't fit between the laser fences."

Tails didn't respond at first, but out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw him hang his head.

"What's wrong, bud?"

The fox looked up at him reluctantly. "I just made this thing. I mean… I could make another one at some point… I guess. But I don't know if it would be as good, and…"

Sonic chuckled and patted his shoulder. "You and your machines," he said. "Don't worry, though. We'll come back for it as soon as we disable the security in this room, okay?"

Tails considered, then nodded. "Yeah, okay. 'Sides… we don't really have a choice, do we?"

"Come on, then," Sonic said confidently, offering his friend a hand. Tails smiled and slapped it playfully, then hung onto it while he climbed down from the robot. Sonic dropped down neatly at his side. He turned to the beetles, commanded them to stay where they were, and then examined the laser field in front of him, grinning in anticipation. "We're closing in on it, Tails. We're closing in on it."

_Once you reach the top of the hill, all there's left to do is roll down…_

"Hah, I just realized something!" The fox exclaimed suddenly. He wound up his tails and lifted himself off the dry ground, grinning from ear to ear. "Eggman forgot something when he made this: I can fly over it all!"

The blue blur's mouth twitched, like he'd been thinking about smiling. "Uh, I wouldn't jump to conclusions," he said, his undertone suggestive. "Take a closer look. If you take a certain path…" the hedgehog paused to point at a route with green fences on either side, "…it leads to a certain weight pad."

Tails followed Sonic's finger to the pad in question, but his gaze caught something else on the way: a pillar in the middle of the area that went from floor to ceiling. He realized upon closer examination that it wasn't really a pillar at all; it was a tube.

A tube with thick, red liquid oozing around in it - like a giant lava lamp.

Tails's smirk disappeared. Sonic's widened, and he raised his eyebrows. "…And if we don't hit them in the right order - or if we don't follow the set paths - the volcano erupts."


	18. Chapter 18: Pressure

**Oh my gosh, who here has played Sonic and the Black Knight? I **_**loved **_**it. The gameplay is okay, the graphics are nice, and the music is great (especially Crush 40's 'Live Life')… but what REALLY sold it for me was Sonic himself. Sonic Team did a **_**fantastic **_**job with his character in this game – so if you're thinking about trying it out but aren't sure, at least RENT it and play through the story (there will be two sets of credits in the game, so don't stop playing after the first one). You gotta play all the way through, though, because the one scene where he shines most (in my opinion) is near the end. So many major aspects of Sonic's personality truly shine in this scene – his passion for freedom, his determination, his resilience – and it's probably one of my favorite moments in the entire series. If you want to go ahead and spoil it, search Youtube for a video called 'Sonic and the Black Knight Dark Queen,' uploaded by jeztac33. Or go get the game for yourself. ;)**

**I could mention at least one… two… three… yeah, three other scenes that really struck me as awesome, too. Actually, know what, I will – check my profile for the links to those scenes!**

**Also, to those of you who review anonymously, I just wanted to say a quick thank you here since I can't really PM you a review reply, so… uh, thanks!**

**Here's the next chapter. It's one of my favorites so far in this book, if not my favorite all together. Not entirely sure why. I improvised a lot and had loads of fun typing it (I worked on this thing for about three hours every day for four days in a row, too), and it all came out just how I wanted it to. It's long, but I'm quite positive that's a good thing in this case.**

**Here she is.**

CHAPTER 18: Pressure

Sonic took the first step forward.

When the volcano didn't erupt, Tails followed cautiously behind him, and together they walked between the red laser fences. Both of them kept to the middle of the path, taking care not to go within a foot of the maze's edge. Sonic broke into a semi-careful run, and the fox hesitantly followed suit behind him, glancing up at the lava pipe every once in a while as they neared it.

Running was Sonic's game, so he was naturally coordinated enough to make the ninety-degree turns without slowing down. His movements looked fluid yet sharp as he did so. Tails, on the other hand, fell behind a little; with two thick, free appendages swinging around, he was willing to sacrifice speed for prudence.

Getting through the red section of the puzzle was easier than they expected it to be. While the pseudo-maze was incredibly huge, it was very simple, with relatively few turns. At the speed Sonic and Tails were going, it took them less than a minute. The hard part was deciding whether or not to press down the first button…

"The only way we'll find out is if we try," Sonic said, shrugging. A part of him was unsure about said notion, but that same part also knew that taking their time to figure things out first was probably wasn't a better idea.

_Again with that word 'time.'_

Tails's eyes widened, and for a moment he looked like he expected Sonic to say he was just kidding. Then he remembered who he was talking to. He cast the button a glance, then stepped away from it, grabbing Sonic's arm and pulling him backwards with him. "No way."

The hedgehog wiggled out of Tails's grasp and folded his arms, giving the fox the magical Encouraging Smirk. "C'mon, bud. Be brave."

"Be logical," the younger one responded, his voice almost a plea as he met Sonic's eyes. "Your definition of courage is suicide!"

Sonic smirked, no trace of doubt on his face as he took one step towards the button. "But I thought we were going to die anyway…?" He said. "Following your 'logical' viewpoints, if we don't die in here, we'll die of this poison." He smiled; he was on a roll and knew it. He took another step. "So _my _question is, why does it matter if it ends _here _or _there_?"

Irritated at Sonic's sarcastic counter and even more irritated that the hedgehog was right, Tails grumbled under his breath. Then he swiftly stepped past Sonic, muttered "fine," and slammed a foot down on the button.

They both flinched.

Several seconds later, they were both still standing in the same position; nothing had happened. Finally, Sonic relaxed, convinced that they still had another few minutes of life promised to them.

_Very _few minutes. Unknown to them, stepping onto that push button had triggered a two minute timer…

"See? What'd I tell you?"

Tails was the one grinning now. "You were scared, too," he said. "You were terrified when I did that."

"Not terrified," Sonic corrected, and winked convincingly. "Just prepared for the worst."

Tails knew better. He rolled his eyes. "Okay."

"So – what was the point of _that_, anyway?" The hedgehog asked, quickly changing the subject and directing his gaze somewhere away from Tails. "Did the button even do anything?"

"I'm not sure," Tails said. "I'm just hoping this isn't all trial and error, 'cause if we have to guess for the other three buttons…" He trailed off, and started over. "I have feeling errors aren't allowed on this test."

As they ran back out of the red maze and away from the center tube, the noise of the lava flowing through it began to diminish behind them. There were three more fence colors within the puzzle: green, blue, and yellow. Sonic kept going, heading for the blue path, and began, "How about—"

"Shh!" Tails hissed, cutting the hedgehog's proposal off suddenly. Knowing better than to ask any stupid questions, Sonic fell quiet and listened.

With the rush of the trapped lava far away from them, the sound of the faint beeping could be heard.

Tails deliberated several seconds until he was sure Sonic could hear it too, then quietly asked, "What is it?"

"Stay calm, okay? Now look up there." Sonic spoke quickly and coolly. Tails followed his gaze to the ticking clock near the top of the lava-lamp pillar. It read eighty-nine…eighty-eight…eight-seven… "I think we have to hit the next one before it runs out."

Tails tried to look unfazed, but something happened to his eyes. "What?" He asked, panic concealed under the thin layer of control in his voice. "Where's _that_?"

"Don't know. Start looking." And Sonic was off before Tails could respond, racing around the area.

Eighty-two seconds.

Tails turned the opposite way and ran, spinning his namesakes behind him. He began to wonder just how they were supposed to _know _which button to hit next – but almost immediately, his eye caught something unusual. He didn't know what it was until he reached it, and then relief flowed throughout him: a screen with a map on it.

The yellow path was highlighted.

"_Sonic!!_"

"Coming!" And the hedgehog was back in a literal Sonic second. "'Sup?"

"Yellow path. Hit the button!"

Sonic looked at the pattern of the maze on the monitor, taking it in quickly, and then winked at Tails. "On it!"

Seventy-five.

Tails watched the blue blur race through the maze, his reflexes just as fast as his velocity as he made lightning-fast turns at all the right places. He managed to whiz past every path that would lead to a loop or dead end – by either some streak of luck or a hell of a good memory. Then he was on the button, smiling and giving the fox a thumbs-up. The clock continued to tick, not resetting itself for the next button, but the hedgehog wasn't the least bit bothered; he trusted himself and his speed completely. "What next?"

Tails looked down at the map. It had gone blank. As fear bit his stomach, he bit his lip, wasting a split second of precious time wondering what to do before turning and running. He saw the next monitor only a few yards down; he had been too distracted to notice it before.

All four mazes were on it, like the previous one, but the blue one was brighter than the rest.

"Blue!" The fox called, and there was a gust of wind as Sonic exited the yellow maze and whizzed by him.

Fifty-nine.

Having caught on by now, Tails turned away and dashed for the next screen as fast as he could. Things had to be done immediately – or _sooner _– and he knew it. _No tricks, _he prayed. _No tricks… tell me the green one is glowing…_

As the fox made his way to the last monitor – which seemed ridiculously far away from the other two, by comparison – there were loud gusts of wind, cocky chuckles, and the occasional swear word. Then, in a matter of mere moments, the 'bing' signaling that Sonic had stepped on the right pad echoed throughout the area.

By the time Sonic called "What next" from the other side, Tails had an answer prepared for him. "Green! The only one left!" The fox's second sentence got lost in the atmosphere, for as soon as Sonic had heard the color, he had bolted off.

Fifty.

"_Over here!_" Tails hollered over the rush of the wind. "_Green's in front of me!_" To his surprise, Sonic actually heard it, and looped around the place before coming to a stop in front of Tails. It took all of two seconds.

"Too easy to be true."

"Have a better idea?" Tails asked. "It hasn't erupted yet!"

Sonic shrugged. "Good point." He turned around and fearlessly dashed into the last maze. The sonic boom echoed loudly.

Forty-four.

The first turn Sonic made was a wrong guess. Seeing the dead end, he skidded to a halt before whipping back around and rushing in the opposite direction. The maze was far more confusing than the previous three, with the dead ends being less obvious, but he managed to keep a streak of good luck through the next few turns, getting himself more than half way through in mere moments. It didn't take long before the button was in plain sight… but it was still way too far away. He looked at the timer.

Thirty-seven.

Suddenly, Sonic felt a throb of pain. For a second, he wondered if he was getting another headache… but it wasn't only in his head. For some reason, his chest and his left arm also ached. He ignored it. Now wasn't the place or time to worry about something so trivial…

Right. Right. Left. Dead-end. Sonic did a harsh u-turn between the fences, keeping his speed and just barely managing to avoid contact with the lasers. Left. Right.

Sonic's eyebrows creased downward in determination – and tension. He was moving at high speeds, but not high enough – one could only move so fast when there were sharp turns in the route. He could practically feel the clock ticking down. But he was almost there.

Thirty.

Another dead end and another u-turn. There were two other directions he could choose from, and they both branched out into more paths. It was hard to tell which one would ultimately lead to the end.

He didn't hesitate, didn't think anything through – instead, he bolted to the right and hoped against hope that it was the right one. There was no longer time to consider.

_"I don't think errors are allowed on this test." _Tails's earlier words suddenly took on a whole new meaning as they resonated around in his head. If this was the wrong way… there would be no fixing the mistake.

Twenty-seven seconds. Sonic's heart pounded fast and hard against his sternum.

He made a few more speedy turns, accelerating as he went without even consciously trying to. Fortune shined on him; he managed to avoid the rest of the dead ends. And then, miraculously, the button was in his line of vision, two hundred feet straight in front of him – with nothing blocking his path. He had chosen the right way. Five more seconds would get him there; that was all he needed. He would make it with time to spare…

…And then, with hardly any warning, something exploded inside him. In mid-run, he squeezed his eyes shut tight and suddenly went stiff. Before he even realized he was in pain, he found himself staring at the ground, with skid marks on his hands and knees… and then a horrendous scream came from his throat. He collapsed all the way on his front, clutching his head tightly between his hands, trying to keep it from bursting right open…

"Sonic!" There was a faint call, from Tails without a doubt, but the hedgehog could barely hear it through the sudden wall of pain. His head and his heart were throbbing – no, _pulsing_ against his bones – and he couldn't focus on anything else. If there had been an alarm to signal just what it felt like, it would have been screaming so constantly that there was no break in between the beeps.

Nineteen.

"Get up! What're you – Sonic, are you all right!?"

Sonic couldn't even find his voice to answer, and it scared him. He _wasn't _all right, and it had been so… unexpected! He felt like he was going to die; he felt that even if the volcano didn't erupt, he would never wake up again if he faded to black…

_C'mon… the antidote's so close… push it, push it! It's only discomfort, right!?_

He couldn't make himself believe the words. Any of them. His sense of self-control seemed completely _gone_ – for the first time in his life. He had been pushed far beyond the limits.

Fifteen.

Tails's voice, the sound of the timer, the lava waiting to erupt just yards in front of him… it all ceased to exist. He could no longer see the final button; his vision was going gray. He could hardly even think.

_Ten._

Was he moving? Dragging himself, scraping his hands against the ground, or kicking the air in agony? Was he lying down on his front, clutching his head? Was he screaming? Was he conscious? He no longer knew. He couldn't even remember his name.

_Five._

_Go away, _Sonic found himself thinking… or was he saying it aloud? _GO AWAAAAY!_

Four.

His inner demands did nothing; he was beyond even _understanding_ the words his unconscious was speaking to him. His head wouldn't clear. It was as if somebody had taken Zorro's _other _tail and drove it downward into his skull, into his brain, and somehow he was still alive to experience the resulting feeling…

Three.

_Move! MOVE! COME ON! _

Two.

_Just get UP! Get up! GET UUUPPPPP!!_

One.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the security center, Eggman's faced was no longer merely amused as he watched the conclusion of the struggle. He looked no less than astounded.

_The poison… It's like a thrown baseball, waiting until the very last second to curve. So powerful!_

_Hm. It looks as if my mistake will be fixed after all…!_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Sonic woke up again, he felt so physically relieved he _couldn't _feel anything that he almost fell right back to sleep.

Then, somewhere in his head, he realized the significance of being awake.

"I'm still here…!" he slurred, and it was incomprehensible, even to him. He tried again, slowly. "I'm… still… here…"

Just as his thoughts organized themselves enough for him to remember the specifics – including the things he didn't really _want _to remember – something touched his side. He jumped, expecting another paroxysm of bone-jarring pain to follow; it seemed like that was the only thing his body was accustomed to now.

_Calm down, _he consciously and deliberately thought to himself, following it with a mental _tsk. _He closed his eyes and drew in a breath. It came out in a shaky, raspy sound that seemed nothing like an exhale… but it would do.

He opened his eyes again, taking in his surroundings. The cave-like ceiling was still there, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see the tube-like pillar. He hadn't gone anywhere.

The volcano… hadn't erupted?

As Sonic wrapped his head around this miracle, he also noticed the presence of something unusual beneath his rear end and back. He wondered what it was, but didn't know yet if his body could handle the strain of sitting up to look.

Then he remembered the light, gentle pressure on his side and moved his eyes in that direction, naturally. Tails was sitting next to him, genuine fear written all over his face, and Sonic realized that the feeling had been the fox's finger tapping him.

Sonic focused in on his friend's face, holding eye contact until Tails realized what he was seeing. Once it struck the fox that Sonic really was awake and conscious for good, he leaned down on the ground next to him speechlessly, with his head still upright, and laid a hand over his arm gently.

"I thought you were gone," he whispered, starting to cry. "That… that was the longest five minutes of my life, waiting for you to open your eyes again…!"

Sonic barely heard him; his own heavy panting stifled the sound. He wondered if the breathing labor was caused by some physical reason – perhaps the same one that had caused the pain just a few minutes ago – or if it was just because he was anxious.

"I thought it was over," the fox went on, voice coated in a mixture of distress and relief. "What… what _happened_ to you?"

_Pull yourself together, _Sonic thought to himself again. His arms were still shaking; whether from fright or involuntary body actions, again he didn't know.

Sonic inhaled a large breath to speak, but it spread over very few words. "I don't know…" he began, and breathed again, "…what happened. Barely… felt it coming. Only soreness in… in my chest and arm and head. Then I went all… all spastic. Was it… some kind of… some kind of seizure?"

Tails shook his head. "No," he answered, sounding incredibly sure of himself. Something was hidden in that reply, though… and it was beginning to leak out in his tears as more of them streamed down his face.

"'S that supposed to mean?" Sonic questioned, his voice gaining just a little more foundation.

For a moment, Tails didn't look like he was going to continue. He looked like even the idea of making eye contact with Sonic was torture. Then, reluctantly and desperately, he explained: "You know how… you know how random parts of people's bodies will hurt before they have a heart attack?"

"I had a…!?"

"N-no! Not quite, anyway… Well, sort of…" the fox said. His voice raised in pitch. "It's the poison."

_Oh. _Sonic's entire body seemed to deflate as the sad realization hit home. And then he knew the truth of it all, despite what he had wanted to believe: "It's attacking my heart."

Tails nodded, probably trying to look intelligent about it. Instead, he looked like a young child who had been told he would not eat dinner or have a bedtime story told to him tonight. He looked emotionally torn in half, like a frail piece of paper that had just been ripped down the middle. "Sorry…" he squeaked, and turned away so Sonic wouldn't see him sobbing. "I… know… I'm not helping… you any… I'm sorry…"

Sonic watched the back of kit's head and shoulders vibrate as he wept violently. For a second – for one split second – he felt like he could do the same thing. He wasn't sure if it would have been out of pity for Tails, self-pity, or both – nor did he have time to figure it out. The notion was gone from his system as soon as it had come.

Tails continued to cry. It was like a valve had been opened, letting water shoot out of it, and it was coming out too fast to close the valve again. Sonic looked away, letting the fox release his emotions without shame. It took a few minutes, but the fox's cries gradually reduced to hiccups.

"Enough of this," Sonic said firmly. He wasn't directing it at Tails, but at the situation they were both in. Then, eyes full of life that completely contradicted his physical condition, he pushed himself into a sitting position, then to a kneeling position… and finally, he made it to his feet, albeit a little clumsily.

Then he realized what he'd been sitting on: the button.

A single amazed laugh came out of his mouth. "How in the world… did that _happen_?" He asked, looking at Tails.

The fox sniffled and gave him a confused look. "What… what do you mean? You're the one who pushed it down."

Sonic's expression became surprised, and a little proud. "I… did?"

"Well… we're still here," the fox said, wiping his eyes and trying a smile. "…I went in the maze to catch up to you, so I could hit it in case you didn't make it on time," he explained. "But I didn't even get close. You managed to make it just before time ran out." Tails left out the part about how he'd have nightmares for several years to come after seeing Sonic like that, and instead replaced it with, "You really scared me. But… but never mind me! That had to have been... I've never seen you in so much…"

"Drop it," Sonic said firmly but gently, not wanting any sympathy. "I'm fine now. So no need to worry… right? The antidote is close."

"Yeah, I know."

"Everything'll work out."

Tails hesitated. "Can you promise that?"

Sonic didn't respond in the negative or positive. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Tails's shoulders, leading him out of the maze. "Tails, I'm not much of a liar, so I'm not going to lie to myself or you, here. Listen… okay?" Sonic paused, looking straight into the fox's eyes. His face went serious, but didn't lose its light completely, as he said, "If I… go under again, I don't know if I'll be able to come back up. For all I know, I could only have a few minutes left."

Sonic hated the words coming out of his mouth; hated having to say them; to have someone hear them; to _admit _them. But he vowed, in the privacy in his own mind, that he would never _accept_ them… not for as long as he lived, whether that be another five minutes, another five days, or another five decades.

He would not accept defeat.

"Don't think like that," Tails said almost immediately, shaking his head back and forth over and over. "Don't think like that!"

"I'm not. I'm just facing the facts, bro." Again, the hedgehog stopped, this time to think through what was about to come out of his mouth. He had come nowhere near giving up, and didn't want to_ sound_ like he had… but he couldn't _not _tell his friend this, no matter what it made him sound like. This was for Tails's sake, not for his own, and he knew pride needed to be sacrificed. "If I get 'attacked' again, keep on going. Even if I _can't_. Get to the antidote. Don't feel bad about… leaving me behind. I want you to p—"

"I hope you're not about to say 'promise,'" Tails interrupted, a fresh set of tears rolling over the ones that had already dried. "Don't… don't say p-promise. Don't hold me t-to that, 'cause… I don't _ever_ want to have to break a promise between us."

Sonic drew a breath to speak again, then let it out in an dismal sigh. "Tails, I…"

"No," the fox said simply as a waterfall cascaded down his cheeks. He stepped forward and leaned desperately into his friend's already open arms, getting close. "No."

"…Okay," Sonic conceded. He hadn't forgotten the conversation he and Tails had shared outside of the subway station. Though it seemed like a lifetime ago, he remembered every detail. He remembered putting himself in the fox's shoes, hearing himself tell Tails to get away from harm or not to do something dangerous. He remembered how it felt, imagining that he was Tails, being told not to do something selfless; something he felt that he _should _do.

_I won't force him into this. If the roles were switched, I wouldn't let him force _me _into this._

Sonic wrapped both arms around his little bro, holding him tightly. Tails buried his face in his chest.

"Hey, hey," the hedgehog said gently. "You've stayed so strong through all of this. Don't break now. Either way, it's all going to be over soon."

"I know," the fox whispered. "I know. Just another half hour or so… maybe we'll have made it by then, and everything'll be all right again…"

"Come on, then," Sonic encouraged, keeping one arm around Tails and guiding him through the open door. The fox smiled at him, wiping his eyes. "Time didn't stop becoming an issue just 'cause we beat the clock. Let's keep going."

The next area looked more like Eggman's bases were supposed to look like and less like the volcano it was. It was large and extremely tall, like a giant gymnasium. The walls were an industrial sort of blue. It looked strangely normal, which was made it… abnormal. It was empty, nothing more than an open room of atmosphere.

"Whoa…" Sonic said. Tails mistook his friend's surprise to be caused by the new area they were in, and nodded.

"I know."

"No… Tails, do you see a door anywhere?"

The fox looked around. "I don't think so. What's that have to do with anything?"

Sonic suddenly looked hopeful. "Does that mean… that we're in the last area? That the antidote is in _here_?"

"…The antidote room looked nothing like this. It was a lot smaller on the screen," Tails mumbled, not enjoying being the bearer of bad news.

"Oh," was the unenthusiastic reply.

The fox hung his head. "Sonic… did we… miss something?"

Sonic smiled, and Tails saw immediately that it wasn't a fake, cheer-you-up smile. It was real. "What?"

"Look up there! The wall caves in to a higher level up there." Sonic began backing up for a better view. "And again! It's like an enormous set of three stairs!"

The tension left Tails's face. "Wow, good eye…" he said, shaking his head and smiling. "And Sonic, can you imagine what's up there? Come on!" In a flash, Tails was floating above the ground, namesakes spinning like a fan, sadness and fear temporarily forgotten. He grabbed Sonic's wrists and began flying upward.

They were only a few yards higher when Sonic noticed something: "Tails, I get it now! Eggman injected that stuff into your tails to make you weaker because he didn't want you to be able to fly us up here!"

"Hah, I forgot all about that," Tails said. "You're probably right! But… that doesn't explain your shoes…"

"No, but the maze back there does. He didn't want me to be able to beat the clock!" Even though he was looking up, Tails could hear the hedgehog's cocky grin in his voice. "Remember how, before I collapsed and all that, the mazes seemed too easy to be true? Well, Eggman didn't bother making them any harder because he didn't count on me having another pair of protective shoes! And you know, even without shoes on, I bet I still could've done that! Would've burned the feet a little, but that doesn't mean I can't run just as fast if I really want to!"

"All right, showoff," Tails said jokingly, smiling down at his best friend.

"Just sayin'."

They landed on the first ledge. It wasn't as wide as it had appeared to be from the bottom level; there were only four or five feet of foothold.

"All set or do you need a break?" Sonic asked.

"Nah, I'm perfectly fine!" the fox replied, swishing his tails in front of him. "Let's go up to the next one and get this out of the way, already!"

Sonic raised his eyebrows, not failing to notice that Tails's excitement level was a little to high to be completely genuine. But fake happiness was probably better than the alternative. "All right, take us up there!"

And the fox was about to, until something behind Sonic some distance caught his attention. His tone of voice changed drastically when he spoke again, becoming a mixture of fear and adrenaline. "Time to show off again, Sonic!"

"Huh?" The hedgehog looked over his shoulder, already knowing what to expect. His expectations were met: from ducts on the wall of the next step exited dozens of flying robots – and all of them were headed their way. They looked somewhat similar to the robots _they'd _had earlier...

"Hey Sonic! What in the world happened to our beetles? They're gone!"

"Guess they weren't as reliable as the Commander made 'em out to be," Sonic answered. "Who cares? C'mon, take us up to the next level!"

Tails's mouth opened in disbelief. "You're… _not_ kidding, are you?"

"Now why would I do that? We can take 'em down!"

Tails wound up his namesakes and picked himself up off the ground hastily, proceeding to grab Sonic's arms. They began to ascend, already twisting away from beams and bullets. "I don't think we're gonna make it up there without a fight, and your arms aren't exactly free right now… so you'd better be prepared to take some damage, just in case I can't always dodge!"

Sonic rolled his eyes upward toward his friend, completely relaxed. "Hi. I'm Sonic. Have we met?"

"Just saying," Tails said, in the same defensive tone Sonic had used earlier. Sonic hmph'ed. As far as he was concerned, it couldn't get any worse than it already had in the maze area.

"Heads up, lock-on at ten o'clock," the hedgehog suddenly warned. Tails looked where Sonic had indicated. A robot was following them with red light… and, as they took a closer look, they realized it was locked right in the center of Sonic's chest.

"Help me," Sonic demanded before Tails had a chance to speak, beginning to swing back and forth from the fox's arms. "Gotta get him before he gets me…! Our power plant move!"

Immediately realizing what Sonic meant, Tails swung the hedgehog once more and then whipped him over his head, releasing at the right moment and sending him flying upward just as he had in the plant nearly a month ago. On his way down, the blue blur curled into a ball and slammed his spikes into his primary target, then ricocheted back into the air and bounced off several more.

Tails was already directly beneath him, and caught the hedgehog under the arms. With the rest of the robots still trying to catch up to them, they made it up to the next ledge.

"Thanks!" Sonic said as Tails released him. "Whew, that was sweet! I'll have to do that again some—"

"Some… some_time?_" Tails finished for him, sounding amused.

Sonic took a little too long to answer, and when he did, it was strained. Forced. "Y-yeah…"

"Oh no…" Tails said, stopping his tails and hitting the ground. He took one look at Sonic's face, and his heart dove into his stomach. As the torturous scene from earlier played vividly in his mind, the fox wanted to throw up. "No, not again! Not already…!"

"Just give me a second…" Sonic said quickly. "I'll be fine. More robots'll come, though… get my back."

Almost as soon as he had spoken the words, something slid open on the far wall and more of the metallic hornets zipped out. Tails didn't dare argue or disobey; Sonic needed a minute. It was his turn to be the protector. He stepped out in front of the hedgehog, prepared to fight.

"I got it, Sonic, don't worry about it!" He assured, and he was only a _little _less confident than he sounded. As the robots approached, he risked a glance over his shoulder at his friend and said, "Sit down, let it shake itself off. They won't come anywhere near you!"

And he believed the words, because he knew he had to. If the poison struck again, Sonic would be rendered defenseless.

Sonic slid down against the wall until the floor met him to support his back end. He didn't look like he was going through anything excruciating – not yet. Tails begged silently that he wouldn't have to at _all._

There were only three robots coming towards him… but then again, only one fox to fight them, too. Tails went through every option possible in his mind – unlike his older brother – and almost instantly realized which one would do the most good.

He still had a single Chaos Emerald.

A part of him warned to keep the energy reserved for later, when he would need it more… to try fighting the robots first and see if they were really all that bad. But the majority of him overruled: he needed it _now. _The situation called for it, and it was far too risky to take chances.

For an instant, he reached into the depths of his mind, trying to remember what it felt like to use a Chaos Emerald. He had one in Super Emerald form not too long ago, but the last time he'd used a _Chaos _Emerald… was when he was saving Sonic from the Dome Base all those years ago.

The robots had hovered closer, detecting the fox's presence despite his stillness. Missiles began firing. Bullets began spraying the area.

As the world seemed to stop rotating, and the shots seemed to slow down through midair, Tails's first instinct was to protect. Sonic was right behind him, and the chance of _all _those projectiles missing was second to none. He held the Chaos Emerald tightly in both hands, and just willed it to do _something._

The gem seemed to wait until the bullets were inches from his skin, and then a semi-circular shield exploded from it, blocking both him and Sonic from the shower.

_Let's make this quick._

The shield snapped away, and Tails ran for not only his life, but Sonic's as well. He hopped off the ledge and flew towards the nearest robot, reaching it before it had a chance to attack again and landing on top of it. It began spraying bullets all over the place. Tails, already seeing the advantage he had, turned it toward the next closest robot as it continued to fire. The metal dented as bullets slammed into it, then it blew up.

Two more to go.

The fox tugged at the top of the robot, turning it again to face the only other one left. Instead of shooting bullets or missiles, though, it… spoke. Its voice was monotonous, like any other automated object, as it said: "Self-destructing now."

It exploded before Tails could react.

The fox slammed into the wall above the ledge, remained there for a moment as if he was stuck, then fell to the floor.

Slowly, he lifted his head, groaning in discomfort. A drop of blood dripped from his head to the ground. For a moment, he just sat there, discombobulated. "I'm okay…!" he managed to holler, just in case Sonic had noticed the incident.

But as he looked over at Sonic, he saw that the hedgehog remained completely still. It would have worried him had he not been sitting perfectly upright, supporting his own weight…

The robotic hornet flying at said hedgehog, though – _that _worried him.

The last thing he wanted to do was see that robot attack. Yet… the second to last thing he wanted to do was snap Sonic out of his trance or nap or _whatever _it was. It seemed to be the only thing helping him, and Tails knew things were already hard enough for the hedgehog as they were.

The fox got to his feet and, not even deliberating, got a running start and jumped off the ledge. He didn't bother spinning his tails – he just grabbed onto the robot and began tackling it like there was no tomorrow. He slammed his fists down on top of it, grinded the Chaos Emerald against the metal, smacked off the guns and launchers… and finally, the machine could endure no more. It blew up, sending Tails flying like the last one had. Good fortune shined again as Tails flew into the step, landing back on the same ledge he had started on.

It still hurt like crazy, but he'd take it any day of the week over falling hundreds of feet back to the first floor level.

As Tails struggled to sit up, dizziness gripped at his mind, making the entire area revolve shakily around him. He closed his eyes; now he _really _felt like vomiting. For a few seconds, he just sat there, waiting for the side effects of the blow to wear off. Then, when he trusted his balance (and his stomach), he pushed himself to his feet and walked slowly towards Sonic.

It wasn't until he got there that he realized Sonic wasn't sitting all the way upright. He was in the corner, leaning his head on the wall beside him. His hands were unclenched on his lap. Before allowing terror to seize him, Tails knelt down and watched Sonic's stomach and chest.

He was still breathing.

Was he asleep? Tails wanted to know, but not bad enough to question the hedgehog. Even if it took hours, he would sit here and wait – as long as the hedgehog kept breathing.

Thankfully, though, he didn't have to wait that long. It was only another few minutes before Sonic's eyes opened in a flash. Tails almost leapt back in surprise.

"Sonic?" He breathed, ears falling a little. "You all right?"

"Feels like it," he responded, and his voice was solid enough to be believable. He forced a weak smile at the vulpine.

Tails sat down next to him. "You need a few more minutes?"

"Wouldn't hurt."

"Okay," the fox agreed quickly. He looked away from Sonic, instead watching his feet. He was moving his thumbs back and forth next to each other, as if trying to make a decision. Sonic noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just…" Tails swallowed. "What went on that time?"

"Oh," Sonic said, chuckling pleasantly. Tails fixed him with a confused look. "Ah, don't worry about it. I got it to go away before it got too bad," the hedgehog explained.

"You… did?"

"Yeah. You know, when it happened in the middle of that maze, I didn't expect it at all, and I knew I didn't have time to try and get it to go away. I'm thinking that's why it was so bad last time. This time, I knew what was happening and I knew I had a little more time available to me. So I figured I'd probably be able to wiggle away from it like I did the first time it happened."

Tails continued to watch him, a hint of suspicion sneaking into his concerned gaze. "It was that easy, huh?"

"Nah, I'm editing," Sonic admitted. "But it could've been worse. I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Tails smiled. "I know why you can wiggle away when the poison tries to push further," he declared. Without waiting for indication from Sonic, he continued: "It's because when you relax, your blood isn't pumping as fast. And the poison is _in _your blood, so _it's _not moving as fast either, understand what I mean?" Sonic nodded at him. "So when you just sat down like that, your heart beat slowed because you weren't exerting yourself or panicking like you were in the maze."

"I wasn't really _panicking_, per se, I was just trying to—"

"Editing again?" Tails interrupted. Sonic gave in to a nod, and the corners of the fox's mouth raised in sympathy. "Thought you might be," he said. "Anyway… when it happens again, just keep doing what you're doing, no matter what's going on around you."

"You, too," Sonic said, pointing a finger at him.

"Huh?"

"You, too. We were both poisoned at the same time, and it looks like I'm in the final stage of it. You're probably not far behind, so don't be surprised if it happens before we get to the antidote."

"Speaking of the antidote," Tails cut in, "I beat all the bots on this level, which means we should be able to get to the top of this structure without trouble. Sonic… we've almost made it!"

"Heh heh," Sonic laughed, shooting Tails a grin. "You know, there have been an awful lot of almosts in the past few weeks. Let's get ourselves up there so it doesn't stay an almost forever, hm?"

"You okay to get up, then?"

Sonic put his feet on the ground in front of him and used the wall behind him to push himself up. "You bet! I'm back in the game!"

They were at the top of the final step in no time. They stood in the frame of two open doors, looking ahead into a large, white hallway. Both of them immediately caught a case of déjà vu, and both of them immediately knew why. Sonic was the first to voice it.

"The security monitor showed this. The antidote is in one of these rooms."

Tails shook his head, first in disbelief that they were finally here after all these weeks and all this pain… and then in disbelief that it was really this easy.

"If it weren't for your difficulties back there," the fox began, "getting up those enormous steps and past those weak robots would have been easy. And Eggman wouldn't make it that easy – ever."

"Unless there's a reason for it," Sonic muttered under his breath.

"Huh?"

Sonic looked at the fox. "Eh, just talking to myself. Everybody does it, y' know?"

"You think there's more to this. If you didn't, we wouldn't still be standing here discussing it." It wasn't a question; it was a statement of fact. Tails knew Sonic well enough. Quietly, he added, "I've felt the exact same way. I feel… like I felt in that tunnel in the subway last week."

"Guess we're not going to find out unless we go see for ourselves, are we?" Sonic asked. Tails, knowing it was a rhetorical question, just nodded and followed alongside him as they stepped into the hall; the place where they would either live or die.


	19. Chapter 19: Liar

**Only one thing to say here: this first small section of the chapter (the part told in first person) may be confusing. Read it through, then finish the chapter, and then (if you have to) read this first section again and it'll all come into context.**

**You'd better prepare yourself for this one. ;) Enjoy.**

CHAPTER 19: Liar.

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First person – Tails.

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Well, this was it. We had finally made it. All we had to do was overcome the lock system in one of these rooms, and the antidote would be right behind it.

Having established that, I felt like we should've been happier. But we weren't. At least, _I _wasn't, and if Sonic was, it was only out of sheer willpower. He was just as self-assured as usual, and he seemed pretty relaxed – as usual – but calling him _happy _would be stretching it, especially when he'd been forced to deal with agonizing physical pain every ten minutes.

The knowledge that this pain was bringing you drastically closer to death each time it occurred couldn't be comforting, either.

I was so scared for him – probably even more so than he was for himself, which was a little sad. Who did that make the oddball, though: me, for being such a wimp, or him, for his ridiculous nonchalance?

I sighed.

Just then, he looked at me, and I realized I'd been watching him. I directed my gaze elsewhere. I didn't want to make eye contact with him.

_It hurts too much, knowing that each time I look at him, it might be the last. _As the thought drifted across my mind, I felt my ears droop forward onto my head. It was a sad truth.

Sonic thought I was a pessimist when I tried to voice such thoughts to him. That was why I'd started to put on a happy face, and keep those thoughts in the privacy of my own mind. I didn't want to be too obvious…

The truth, though, was that I was not pessimistic at all in thinking that. I was actually at more of an advantage than he was – and not only because the poison had not attacked my system quite yet.

Or perhaps I was at a _dis_advantage. But, since I was _not _a pessimist, I decided not to assume that. I decided to assume that I had the better end of the stick, here, because… _I _knew something that Sonic didn't.

Rouge had seen the screens in Eggman's security room. So had I, because I had flown up into the pipes and looked at them through the vents just as she had. But _Sonic… _he only knew as much as I had told him. And I hadn't told him everything. There was something curious on those monitors, something I had kept to myself ever since I had the privilege of viewing them.

That was where I was advantaged.

There were two separate doors in the hall. That made my idea all the more easy to accomplish. As we approached one, I peered into it, then turned around and glanced at the other, trying to figure out which one was which. I was happy – yes, _happy _– to see the lock system in one room, and nothing in the other room. I knew what to do now.

"Sonic," I began, clasping my hands behind my back and looking up at him. I made sure I was on the opposite side of him as the empty room, so he wouldn't _see _that it was empty. "We should split up, don't you think? How about you check out this one" – I gestured to the one with the lock system – "and I'll check out the one over there?"

Sonic's eyes lit up as he looked at me, and the life and determination I found there – despite how much he had suffered lately – was still shining bright. That was one quality of his that always amazed me.

"Sure thing, bro," he replied back to me, and I returned the thumbs-up he gave. "Let me know if you find anything."

I nodded. "And Sonic, if it happens again…" I paused to swallow the lump forming in my throat. "Do what you did last time. Keep your heart rate low. Don't… don't let it pull you under. The poison, I mean."

"It's happened three times. What's one more?" He asked, shrugging. "I'm not going anywhere!"

He was sure of himself. He wasn't just saying that for me, like I knew he occasionally did. He meant what he said entirely, believed in it with every fiber of his being.

I turned and headed to the room across the hall without another word, confident that he would still be okay when we rendezvoused again. I watched him over my shoulder as I walked, making sure he was going into the other room.

Once I was alone, I shut the door behind me and slumped down against the wall. My heart was pounding for some reason, and I tried to slow it – just in case the poison was getting closer to releasing its toxins in me, too.

I believed in Sonic. If he said he could survive one more internal assault, or two, or _ten_… I would trust him. He knew himself in plenty of ways, and knowing what he was capable of was one of them. He wouldn't let go.

Well, in a vastly different way, _I _knew what _I _was capable of, too. And I was about to make an act upon that knowledge.

Now was where… the line between advantage and disadvantage became very, very thin. Now was where it became arguable which one was the more fitting term for the situation.

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Third person perspective.

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When Sonic called from across the hall a few minutes later, it wasn't the cry of pain that Tails had half-expected.

"Yo, Taaaiiiils!"

The fox hopped to his feet, not having moved since sitting down, and pushed the door open. "I hear you. What's going on?"

"Come on in here," Sonic proceeded to say, and Tails couldn't tell by the tone of his voice whether the discovery was a good thing or a bad thing. He jogged across the hall and stopped in the doorframe, trying to act like Sonic would expect him to act in order to keep his plan concealed.

"Did you find something?" Tails asked.

Sonic was smiling as he looked down at Tails. "Tails… I think the cure is literally right in front of us! For real this time."

_It is, _Tails thought but didn't say. _I already knew that._

Sonic went on, completely oblivious. "About time, huh? I don't know how to open the door, though. You can probably figure it out better than I can."

Tails approached the giant, vault-like door that lead to the final room. On it were single-digit combination locks. "Did you look at these?" The fox asked. "There's small lettering engraved around the locks. _Really_ small."

Sonic walked up next to Tails and squinted hard at the lettering in question. "Huh, I thought it was just a design," he said. "Didn't notice there were actual words there. Hints?"

"Yeah. Look, one says 'Dome Base.'"

Sonic folded his arms. "…That doesn't make sense."

"Wait, yes it does," Tails said thoughtfully, ears perking up. "There were eight areas total in the Dome Base, upper and lower. Remember?"

Sonic nodded, and a strange look came over his face. He remembered, all right, even though so much time had passed. He had been trapped there for months, after all. Eggman had made him his prisoner, and it was only thanks to Tails that he had been able to escape. On the rare occasions that the hedgehog thought about it, he felt a little queasy. The idea of _ever _being locked up again like that disgusted him.

Getting both legs broken and later being stabbed by Zorro hadn't been much of a picnic, either.

But that had been a long time ago. It was a matter of the past.

"Think anything will happen if I turn it to eight?" Tails asked.

"Nah. You probably have to set all five before anything happens," Sonic said. "Go ahead."

Tails pinched the dial gingerly between his index finger and thumb, as if it was going to blow up, and then slowly rotated it to the number eight. "Um, okay…" he began. "On to the next one, I guess?"

"Aren't you supposed to turn combination locks to three different numbers?" Sonic asked.

The fox hesitated. "Well, normally, yeah. But I think these ones are different. Each hint can only correspond to one number, right? So I think we set them all to a certain number, and if it's right the next room will be unlocked. If it's wrong, though…"

"Some things are better left unknown."

"Yeah," Tails agreed. "Let's leave it at that."

The next hint said Chaos Barrier. Tails turned the lock to five without even deliberating; it was incredibly obvious. "Five Emeralds make up the barrier. Right now, anyway."

"Easy enough. But what's 'Blockade' supposed to mean?"

Tails looked at the next lock, as if reading the word would make things any easier. "Blockade… do you think that has something to do with the barrier, too?"

"Or maybe it has something to do with the doors that fell to block our path on our way past the security center earlier?" Sonic suggested, giving Tails a tentative look.

The fox's face fell. "How are we supposed to remember _that_? You don't remember things like that when you're running for your life!"

"There were six." Sonic told him, smiling smugly. He reached forward and set the third lock.

"You… _counted _them?"

"Nah. Saw 'em on the first directory we passed," Sonic said, squinting to read the words wrapped around the next lock. "You were up in the pipe, remember? Hey, next hint is Emeralds."

"Wow, Eggman made this _way _easy," Tails said, watching Sonic turn the next one to seven. "Only one more left. Sleep."

"Sleep?" Sonic repeated. It didn't take long for it to click. "Heh, I get it. We were in a coma for six months."

"Wait!" Tails said as Sonic reached forward. His voice was louder than necessary since Sonic was right next to him, and the hedgehog jerked his hand away reflexively.

"What's wrong?"

"I just noticed… Eggman would've had to have made this lock system _after _we woke up. He didn't plan on us coming out of the coma, remember? And how else could he have known that we would only be in a coma for six of the seven months?"

Sonic just stared at the fox. "Wait… _what?_"

"The hint is 'sleeping,' and we were sleeping for six months, technically. So in order to have this hint on here, Eggman must've waited until after we woke up to create this system."

The hedgehog still looked confused. "What's your point, then?"

"Does that mean he created the_ antidote _after we woke up, too?"

Realization struck like lightning. "Oh…! You're saying… you think Eggman _wanted _us to find the antidote!?"

Tails nodded once, slowly. "That is exactly what I'm saying. I just don't see why Eggman would do that, though. Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of poisoning us in the first place?"

"Something's still not clicking, is it?" Sonic asked. "Either way, let's save the questions for later and get ourselves healed first. Like, right _now._" Tails gave him a look, wondering why the hedgehog was so impatient. Sonic answered the unspoken question, his voice reluctant: "It's starting to happen again."

"Huh…? What's happening again?"

"What else…? Ugh… _ah!_" Sonic cried, stepping backward and leaning against the side wall. "It's… getting… more… frequent…" he said tensely, voice hardly louder than a whisper.

Quickly, Tails understood. Sonic's circulatory system was under toxic attack again – and, he knew, a potentially _fatal _attack. He fought against the fear piercing his gut; he had to stay strong. "Heart rate," he reminded the hedgehog, keeping his voice cool. He was screaming inside, though, and his own heart was beating like a hummingbird's wings. He was frantic. _Please, PLEASE let him pull through. One more time… one more time!_

He wanted to offer comfort, but he was afraid that even touching Sonic on the shoulder would make things a thousand times worse. He wanted to say something soothing, but he didn't trust himself to speak without a quiver. With no other options, he did the only thing he saw as logical: set the fifth lock in place and begged inwardly that the door would open.

It didn't.

_Oh, no… no, no, no…!_

Then there was the sound of gears shifting.

_Oh, come on, open… come on…_

The door still didn't budge.

_No… is it the mechanism!? Ah…! I have to do something!_

"Tails…!"

The sound of Sonic's voice pierced through all the fox's inner panic, and he whirred around, bangs whipping against his forehead and welled up tears flying from his eyes. Sonic was on the ground, fists clenched, shaking with the effort it took to even look up.

Then Tails noticed what was going on directly _behind_ the hedgehog: the wall was moving inward. Of course, he looked over his shoulder again, in the other direction. A panicked whimper escaped his throat; the other wall was closing in, too.

The combination had been wrong. They were going to get crushed.

"Tails…" Sonic said again. Both of his hands were on the ground, and to the fox's horror, he was trying to push himself up.

Even worse: he succeeded.

"Son_ic_!" Tails shouted, dashing towards the hedgehog, preparing to push him back on the ground. He stopped short suddenly, realizing just how stupid that idea was. Sonic could get hurt further if he did that. "Sonic, you shouldn't be on your feet! Let it pass first, so your heart rate goes back—"

"Sorry, but… I'm not… sittin' this one out…!"

"You're going to _kill yourself! _The strain is too much in this stage!"

"My… my heart rate's still low!" He insisted, making eye contact with Tails. His eyes were anxious, but there was sanity there, too. He had himself under control – to an extent. "'S not that bad anymore… I think it's going away, just a little… an' besides, I've run for hours without raising my heart rate before. High stamina, and all."

Tails shook his head from side to side violently. "Are you _crazy?_"

"Probably," Sonic replied, his voice a forced calm. "Doesn't matter. The walls… are closing. You gonna do something or… or are we gonna be a piece… of gum… on the bottom of a shoe?" He didn't wait for Tails's answer. "Try to fix the comb, see if… see if that does anything… an' I'll slow the walls."

There was a loud groan, and then Sonic was curled up, spin dashing rapidly across the ground and into the far wall.

Though in a state of utter disbelief, Tails managed to turn around and set his eyes on the locks again. He began looking at each one, trying to see where the error could have been. Sweat dripped from his brow and into his eye. He wiped it away. _Concentrate._

Sonic grinded against the wall. Sparks were flying. He spun faster, feeling himself being pushed further and further towards the middle of the room. He was slowing it down, but not much. He spun faster still, closing his eyes to escape the dizziness. Then he actually felt the blood pulsing through his veins – a bad, bad sign. He had to stop.

Tails heard the lack of noise and turned away from the locks. "Sonic!" He shouted, already expecting the worst.

"…I'm fine, just keep working!" The hedgehog shouted quickly, impatiently. He sat down against the wall – which continued to slowly push him towards the _other _wall – and just breathed.

"Sonic, I don't know where we went wrong!" The fox shouted fearfully.

"Just… don't get worked up. Keep tryin'…" Sonic paused, and for a moment he thought he was okay enough to push himself back up. Then: "Ah—AHHHH!"

Something beyond agony swallowed the hedgehog whole… and that was when he knew it was drastically different this time. This wasn't the knife that pierced the arm or shoulder or leg. While painful, those stabs weren't fatal. _This _knife… it had to be the fatal pierce.

Sonic's back arched, and he threw his head against the wall behind him, another explosion of pain ripping through his body. "Oh, God…!"

"_Sonic!_"

Sonic buried his face in his hands, pressing his fingers into his forehead. There was that feeling again… just like in the maze. His skull was shaking itself apart; his chest was hitching and constricting and about to implode.

"_Get a grip!_" Tails shouted, trying to get through to him. Sonic heard him, but only just. "Sonic, you can't pass out again! _Please _don't pass out!"

Somehow, the hedgehog forced his eyes open. He saw the opposite wall moving dreadfully closer… and the locks… and Tails. All three drew his focus away from the pain a little – definitely more so than the blackness behind his eyes could do.

At least, that was what he _assumed _was distracting him… until his entire body went numb. His system was going into lock-down mode, protecting him from the torture. Despite the immediate physical relief, Sonic panicked. He _needed _to feel in order to stay awake.

His eyes came to rest on the vault. For a split second, he remembered what was beyond that vault, remembered just how close they really were… and that was enough. With strength that was suddenly available to him, strength he didn't realize he had, he managed to utter two words.

"Ch-Chaos… Emerald…"

He would later be infinitely grateful that Tails understood him the first time, and that the fox knew exactly what he meant by that.

Tails hastily pulled the thing out into view, rushed it over, and dropped it into Sonic's trembling hand without hesitation.

He didn't even have to focus; the Chaos Emerald sensed his emergency and began to work on its own. The numbness went away, allowing him to actually be aware of his body. The pain still lingered, but it was no longer hindering. It was down to a tolerable level, little more than an ache. Sonic's eyes closed in pleasure and relief as he floated off the ground and a white, shining film surrounded him.

The transformation was fast. When Sonic opened his eyes again, Tails was smiling up at him. Concern was evident in his eyes, but, like the hedgehog, he was relieved.

"Fix the comb," Sonic said, smiling encouragingly at his friend.

Tails drew in a nervous breath and said quickly, "Sonic, the Emerald's helping you, but remember that it's not going to cure you. You still have to keep your heart rate steadied down!"

Sonic nodded. "I know," he said evenly, and then dipped back to the ground. He curled up tightly and then launched himself at the far wall.

Sparks went everywhere. The gear system responsible for moving the walls began to creak and moan. Again, the walls slowed… but didn't stop. And they were getting closer.

_Too _close.

Sonic pushed himself to go faster. It was no longer excruciating. The world blurred around him as he spun with relative ease. Then a terrible thought occurred to him: _If I can get one to stop moving, will the other stop automatically, or will it… keep going?_

Sonic straightened up to address this problem, coming out of his spin dash, and looked behind him. The gap between the walls was only a few feet from closing completely. He saw that Tails was no longer trying to figure out the combination; he was panicking.

"I don't know what else to _do_!" He shouted, looking at Sonic. "We won't be able to stop them!"

The hedgehog closed his eyes, listening to his heart beat in his ears for a few seconds. "It's not over yet," he said. Before Tails could ask what he meant, he leapt straight upwards and threw his arms and legs out, catching himself between the walls and pushing hard against them. "I've gotten out of tighter squeezes than this!"

The Chaos Emerald was floating right in front of him. Its color was beginning to fade. Sonic drew on its energy, absorbing anything and everything that it had left. Immediately, he felt himself pushing harder against the walls. He managed to straighten his arms and legs and – knowing it wasn't a safe idea but not really caring at this point – locked them out. All the time, he paid close attention to his heart beat. He had to stay loose.

It didn't take long. The wall's mechanism quickly proved to be no match for the amount of force Sonic was putting against it. The system groaned loudly, faltered, and then stopped with a crash.

Sonic felt the lack of pressure against his limbs and withdrew, slowly lowering himself to the ground and landing with a gentle thud. As soon as he did, the Emerald fell down next to him, completely drained, and then disappeared in a flash. It had scattered, like any Emerald whose power had been completely depleted.

As the glowing film around Sonic disappeared, he winced in dreadful anticipation, expecting torture again now that he no longer had the aid of the Emerald's energy. But there wasn't. Any pain that was left continued to steadily decrease until he felt almost normal again. Almost.

All he had to say was, "Whew."

Tails actually laughed once. "I… can't believe you just pulled that off."

"Heh. Me neither."

The fox just shook his head, approaching the hedgehog. "So, I take it you're okay now?"

"I think so," Sonic said with a nod. He began to walk forward down the two-foot gap, towards the vault. Tails followed.

"I'm sorry," the fox said, biting his lip. "I was too worried! I mean, we were about to get crushed, and you were struggling, and I just couldn't focus."

"Doesn't matter now," Sonic said simply. "We're still alive!"

"I wonder how many more times we'll get lucky enough to say that," the fox mumbled.

Sonic ignored that, trying to figure out where they had been wrong. After a few minutes, his eyes came to rest on the fourth lock. The hint had been 'Chaos Emeralds.' Their answer had been seven. He narrowed his eyes. "Tails… you think this might be a trick question?" he asked thoughtfully. "There _are_ seven Emeralds total… but how many are actually out there right now?"

"Rouge has one and we have one," the fox said.

"Yeah. I think that's our answer." Sonic looked at Tails, waiting for agreement or argument.

He just said, "Try it."

His mind overflowing with hope and anticipation, Sonic slowly turned the lock, setting the number to '2,' and then drew his hand away.

Five ridiculously long seconds of nothing went by. Sonic and Tails glanced at each other, and their own dread was reflected in the other's eyes.

Then the door slid open anticlimactically.

Neither of them moved. Neither of them tore their gaze away from the other. They were both afraid to look. If this wasn't the right room, or if the antidote wasn't in there…

But Tails, deep inside, knew it was. He had seen it on the monitors. He turned his head first, and Sonic followed his gaze. Simultaneously, both sets of eyes landed on the red tube in the center of the room: the Chaos Drive, the compound of mysterious antidotes powered up by liquefied Chaos energy that would save their lives.

Speechlessly, they walked towards it. To Sonic, the walk seemed to last forever. Neurons and synapses were firing away, trying to process what was going on, but he couldn't believe it. They were finally here. The battle was over. The dread was over. The pain was _over._

Realization didn't strike the hedgehog until they were both above the antidote a lifetime later, peering down at it. And it struck hard. _There was only one tube._ Suddenly, he wanted to collapse to the floor and regurgitate whatever food was in his stomach – if there _was _any.

One of them wasn't going to make it. One of them was going to die.

Sonic pushed past the sickness, not hesitating to decide on who that would be. "There's only one," he said steadily. "Take it, Tails."

Tails fox looked up at Sonic. Thoughts of advantages and disadvantages crept back into the fox's mind. He deliberated for only a brief moment, and then said, "Huh? Sonic, what're you talking about? There's still the room I was in across the hall. There's another Drive, you know."

A flash of relief crossed Sonic's face and then disappeared, leaving any other emotions to the imagination. "There… is?"

"Well, yeah," Tails answered, as if it was obvious. "There are two of _us_, aren't there? Here, stay here and let this do its magic. You need it more than I do right now." He picked up the Drive and gave it to Sonic, smiling. "There was a vault just like this in the room I was in. Rouge didn't mention it to us, though, 'cause the camera angle was off and she didn't see it on the screen. But I was almost done working out the combination, so I'll be right back!"

Tails turned to leave, and Sonic's face lit up as the fox's words finally clicked. "Tails…!" He breathed, ecstatic. "Man, good thing you're observant! Way to _go!_"

The fox looked over his shoulder as Sonic cracked the top of the Chaos Drive and poured the liquid into his mouth. It filled his heart with joy, knowing he would never have to see Sonic suffer like that again. He was going to survive. "Sonic, we _made _it!" He cried suddenly, unable to resist, feeling genuinely happy._ Sonic's going to live._ Almost skipping, he continued out of the room and back across the hall.

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Eggman's eyebrows creased downward, confusion coming over his features. He raised his sunglasses out of the way and took a closer look at what he was seeing on the screen in front of him. "Hmph," he muttered, looking strangely dissatisfied. "That's not how it was supposed to go."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later found Sonic and Tails back at the fox's workshop in Mystic Ruins, sitting on the roof. It was dark out, like it had been when they left for the volcano. They knew, though, that it was not the same night; they had been in there for much longer than a few hours.

There were stars in the sky. It was clear out. It reminded Sonic of the night they had 'defeated' Zorro. Everything had been clear and beautiful and peaceful. Everything had been perfect. _And then Zorro came back, knocked us out, and took us to Grand Metropolis, _a voice said in the back of his mind.

Well, everything had _appeared _to be peaceful and perfect, anyway.

Little did he know that this night, in its perfection, was also only an illusion.

Tails was lying next to Sonic, eyes closed. He knew Sonic thought he was asleep, but he wasn't. In fact, he wasn't even tired. Now that Sonic was safe, it had finally hit home for the fox what his _own_ fate was. And he was scared. He knew that if he was 'awake,' he and Sonic would be having a conversation right now… and he didn't want to have to talk.

The lump in his throat would give him away.

"Tails?"

His eyes snapped open. Sonic was looking down into his face.

For a moment, Tails gazed back up at those vibrant green orbs, completely silent. Then, quietly, he asked, "How did you know I was awake?"

Sonic reached down and carefully wiped something off the fox's cheek with one finger. Not speaking, he showed it to Tails, letting it answer the question for itself. Tails bit down on his bottom lip as understanding dawned. Sonic's finger was wet_. I was crying._

Tails looked back up into Sonic's eyes. The number of times he had seen the hedgehog completely and utterly _serious _could be counted on one hand, probably excluding the thumb. Now was one of those times. There was no trace of happiness, no sign of cockiness, no glint of determination. Only rock-solid seriousness.

"Tails," he said levelly, and in a strangely low pitch. Although his face didn't change as he continued, Tails swore he heard his voice crack. "There was no other Chaos Drive… was there?"

**Thanks for reading, as always! This story will reach its conclusion in the next and final chapter, and then it'll be time for the sequel. Please take a minute to review. :)**


	20. Chapter 20: Dawn of a New Day

Here's the final chapter in Faster Than You Think. Big thanks to all of you for the support and critique, and hell, just for reading. I'm proud to say that this is my longest (89000 words) and most successful story so far, being on the alert list of nearly two dozen people and favorites list of 40 and with more reviews than Beyond the Chaos. Oodles of credit for this accomplishment go to ALL the people who have given constructive criticism; it really DOES help if you're willing to listen to it sometimes.

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CHAPTER 20: Dawn of a New Day

Sonic soared off the roof, unintentionally creating a sonic boom. He hoped the close proximity of it wouldn't damage Tails's eardrums. Then he wondered why he was worried about something so trivial when the fox's _life _was on the line.

_He lied to save me. He lied to save me._

The words echoed through his mind over and over. He couldn't decide if he was touched or terrified. Again, it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that he had to do something before it was all over.

He thought on his feet, working out what he would do as he accelerated across the Mystic Ruins, reaching speeds in high excess of a thousand miles per hour.

Plan A: Go to Angel Island. Ask Knuckles for help. Maybe the Master Emerald can be of some use. Plan B: If Plan A doesn't work, go back to the workshop, check on Tails. Make it quick. Then find Eggman, wherever he is, and demand another tube of the antidote.

"Arrrgh! _Robotnik!!_" He hollered out loud, fists clenching and unclenching as he ran. "This _isn't funny anymore!_"

Sonic felt himself slow down. For a second, he wondered why. Then he realized it was his own mood that was distracting him. His muscles were tense with rage, and his movements were tighter and less fluid. "Settle down,"he told himself. _The poison hasn't even started to affect Tails yet. He hasn't even had a headache. You have time. Settle down._

His thoughts simplified themselves and shortened, then reiterated themselves over and over in the hedgehog's head, becoming something of a mantra. He couldn't lose it now. Not when they were so close.

In spite of the inner reassurances, Sonic - for once - had a hard time quelling his anxiety. He couldn't remember the last time he'd become so on edge. He realized why: whenever he _himself _was in a rough situation, he was good at staying cool. But it wasn't very often that someone else - someone _close _to him - was in constant life-threatening danger.

But the same still applied. He still had to keep it together.

He reached the opposite end of the Mystic Ruins, where Angel Island was, and raced across the bridge connecting the former to the latter. Inwardly, he thanked some higher power that the island was actually _there_. Given how unpredictable the Master Emerald was, he should have been prepared for the island to be somewhere else, or higher up. He should have thought about taking the Tornado instead being so impulsive.

There was no reason to beat himself up over it now, though - he was where he needed to be and so was Angel Island.

He bolted up the stairs, coming to an abrupt stop on the one below where Knuckles was sleeping. The resulting wind smacked the echidna in the face, and he opened his eyes, sitting up alertly.

"Sonic," he said, getting to his feet and rubbing his eyes. He was irritated, but upon seeing the look on the hedgehog's face, his expression relaxed a little. "What brings _you_ here?"

Sonic's fisted hands loosened but didn't open up completely. Closing his eyes, he said four nakedly honest words, all pride stripped away. "I need your help."

Under vastly different circumstances, Knuckles might have snorted and rubbed it in. _Sonic _needed _his _help? But there was something fatally wrong this time, and the echidna sensed it. A few seconds went by in silence. Then there was a remorseful gleam in Knuckles's eyes; one of understanding. "Word got around," he said quietly. "The Master Emerald... it communicated to me the other day."

Sonic raised his eyebrows. He sat down on the step, motioning for Knuckles to do the same. "About what?" He asked, keeping his voice composed.

"About... what was to come. It's not like it can see the future, but... well, Chaos Drives are enhanced by Chaos energy. The Master Emerald _is _Chaos energy."

Sonic nodded. "So the Master Emerald was able to sense that there was an insignificant amount for both of us..."

"Yes," Knuckles answered. "And I wanted the Master Emerald to communicate with you, as well. That way you would know before going off and wasting your time. But the field of energy being created inside the Chaos Barrier prevented it. The Master Emerald's signal couldn't reach you through all the negative energy."

"But... aren't we still inside the barrier?"

"Yes," the echidna said again. "The barrier is what is keeping Angel Island down here."

Sonic didn'tletout an exasperated sigh of frustration. He _blew _it out, hard. Who cared about the barrier? Who cared why the Master Emerald couldn't communicate with he and Tails before? None of it mattered anymore. He got to the point. "Tails needs help. Can the Master Emerald do anything for him?"

"Sonic," Knuckles began, but the hedgehog cut him off.

"If I were to bring Tails here, would it be able to keep him alive long enough for me to figure something out, at least?"

In a distant and emotionless voice, Knuckles told him the regrettable truth: "If I thought the Master Emerald was able to do that, I would have come after you two a long time ago. But... after the whole Super Emerald fiasco with Zorro last year, the Master Emerald is still too weak to do anything considerable. It needs time to restore itself before it can take on such a task as prolonging life."

"_Time _is something Tails doesn't have."

"Which is why you're better off getting out of here now," Knuckles assured him, sternness mixed with the gentleness in his voice. "I can't help you. Find someone who can."

The echidna got up, turned away, and walked up the shrine. He had told Sonic everything; there was nothing more to say.

When he got to the top and turned around again, Sonic was still standing on the steps, his face unreadable. Knuckles looked right into the depths of his eyes for the first and only time that night, and said, "I'm sorry."

As the hedgehog turned around and darted away, making the bridge's wooden boards shake, Knuckles shook his head in disbelief. If Sonic didn't figure something out, he knew, Tails would die.

He had never been a brother to Tails like Sonic had. But he had been there to help when Eggman implanted that chip in the fox's arm two years ago. He had been there with Tails when Sonic had been locked in the Dome Base. He had been there the whole way through. And now, Knuckles realized for the first time that... Tails was his friend, too.

He sat down against a pillar and looked at the spot where Sonic had been standing moments ago, and wondered what news the hedgehog would have the next time he stood there again.

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"Help... help! _Please!_"

Something was grabbing him. Something was trying to suffocate him. It hurt. He couldn't get it off.

"_NO! _Please, please, stop it..."

He couldn't see. It was too dark, and something was covering his face. What was happening to him? There was an aching pain in his limbs, and his head, and... his entire body. Was he being tortured? But... how? Where had he been taken?

"_Ahhhh!_" In a panicked struggle, he managed to push the thing away from his body. Whatever had been trying to suffocate him was gone. He scrambled away, expecting it to rebound. But it didn't.

The pain didn't leave. It only worsened. It was like the worst stomach ache he had ever gotten, except it was _everywhere._ Everywhere.

"Leave me alone!" He shouted, or tried to shout. The words coming out of his mouth no longer made sense. It was a mess of screams and cries that were only words in his own mind.

_Please... please... please..._ It was all he could do to continue begging. He wanted it to end. It _had _to end. It was beyond the limits; the senses were not supposed to be able to even _recognize _pain this agonizing. He wanted to pass out. He wanted to _stay _passed out, until it was over.

"Tails!"

His name, he realized - and in the form of a surprised shout. Was the thing back? Was he going to be suffocated again? He kicked and punched and screamed as loud as he could... or at least, that was what he intended to do. He didn't know what he actually _did_ do - he didn't know anything anymore.

"Tails..."

The same voice. Calmer. Not angry or frantic or whatever he thought it had been. It was recognizable now; he had heard it somewhere before. But he was incapable of remembering where.

"Easy, now," the voice soothed. He felt something touching him on his back. The agony intensified.

"Don't... touch... me... now..." He couldn't hear his own voice, so he had no idea how it sounded or if it was even comprehensible. To his relief, though, the extra pressure went away.

"Okay, I'm sorry," the voice said, still quietly. "Don't worry, okay? It's only me. Sonic."

That name... so familiar, so relieving to hear... "S-Sonic. Oh-"

"Shh, don't talk, okay? You're coming out of it. Just chillax."

_Coming out of what?_ He didn't ask the question aloud - he had been told not to talk, for some strange reason. Then, something clicked and his question answered itself. _It _had happened. After watching Sonic's struggles... he had finally experienced it firsthand.

Was he coming out of it? It still hurt way too bad, though! But he was thinking conscious thoughts again, and he realized that Sonic was next to him now; maybe it _was _diminishing a little bit.

The hand touched between his shoulder blades again, cautiously gentle. It didn't send the fox's senses haywire like before, and he knew he was indeed beginning to feel better. The hand rubbed gently, back and forth.

"Sonic..." he said, because it was the only thing he could think of to say. "Ow..."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Sonic answered, an empathetic chuckle in his voice. "Let it run its course. That's the best way to go."

"I... I think it's... done...?"

"Is it?"

"Y-yeah... doesn't hurt. Just... I'm dizzy."

"Open your eyes."

Tails did. He blinked several times. It was dark in the room, but not so dark that he couldn't see Sonic looking at him. His eyes adapted, and soon he could make out the different shades of blue in his fur like he usually could.

"Wh-what attacked me?" He asked. His voice had a fearful quiver that neither of them had ever heard before.

Sonic tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "When I came in, you were all tangled up in your sheets. I pulled them off." He gestured with a head motion to his left, where Tails's wrinkled blankets were laying in a pile.

"Th-thanks."

"It happened while you were asleep, didn't it?" The hedgehog asked, eyes gleaming with concern and fright that he couldn't quite hide.

Tails shrugged tensely. "Yeah... I... I guess so."

"You should get back in bed," Sonic suggested, gently lifting Tails to his feet. "It might happen again, so just try to pretend it's not. The more you struggle, the harder it gets."

Sonic watched him expectantly, but Tails didn't move. Instead, he looked up to his best friend, his brother, and made a request that the hedgehog had never seen coming. "Sonic... please don't be mad at me for what I did."

Sonic's façade cracked down the middle, not quite breaking but coming damn close. He felt his facial muscles contract into an expression he knew Tails had never seen on him before. He closed the distance between the two of them in one stride, pulling Tails into his arms and tucking the fox's head under his chin.

His voice shaking, he said, "Don't... you ever... think I'm... mad at you. I would never... _ever... _be mad at you. You could _betray _me... and start hanging with Eggman... and I would still love you like a brother."

"Vise-versa," the fox said, collapsing into Sonic, relieved. "You... you know that, too."

Sonic took a deep breath, closing his eyes and living the moment for what it was, feeling Tails's warm fur beneath his hands. Then he slowly pulled away, his eyes never leaving his friend as he did so. The two stood there, a foot away from each other, for what seemed like an eternity. Emotions ran through the air, and they both seemed to be aware of what the other was thinking. They just knew each other that well.

"You're going to leave... aren't you?"

Sonic tore his gaze away from the fox's shimmering blue eyes, but looked as if it hurt him to do so. It did. He wanted to stand there and hold eye contact and just _talk _to his friend. He knew he couldn't. He _had _to leave. "I'm going to find you an antidote."

"No... please don't leave."

Sonic's eyes jumped down to the carpet. He couldn't look at Tails again. He couldn't do anything that would tempt him to change his mind. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I have to try, Tails."

"No, you don't! There's not another one out there! Sonic, don't leave me!"

Sonic inhaled, then exhaled, then repeated the process. Then, his hand raised to give Tails a thumbs-up. With a hint of a smirk and what appeared to be forced optimism, he said, "Don't be mad at me, either, m'kay?" And raced out the door.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later found Sonic racing back to exactly where he had come from. More precisely, racing away from a complete and utter failure.

The volcano's entrance had been locked down. Made of reinforced steel, there was no way to get through. Attack after attack after attack had not even left a dent or a scratch on it. When he realized his efforts were a waste of time - if time even existed to waste anymore - he had turned around, turned away from the one place that had him hanging onto hope by a thread.

It had been the most frustrating thing he had ever done.

The night had been long, but the sun was finally beginning to peek above the horizon as the hedgehog ran back to Tails's home. The sheer irony of a sunrise was revolting to him. Was it really the dawn of a new day? Dusk seemed far more appropriate to him. Dusk signified the moments where the day was almost gone; almost dead. Dawn... dawn meant beginning. What was it the beginning of?

Just as the workshop came into view and he began to slow, an unpleasant thought slammed into his consciousness: it was Tuesday. Their flight to Australia had been on a Tuesday, he recalled, and that had been three weeks ago. Their flight had _also _been just a little over a week after they woke up.

It had been a month.

Time had seemed like such a precious gift before. Now, there _was _no time. It had gone so much faster than he ever expected it to. Not only the last month, he realized, but his entire _life _up until the point he had now reached.

_Time just goes so much faster than you think it will. If we hadn't gotten to that antidote when we had - or if Tails had taken it instead of tricking me into taking it - would the attacks have killed me by now? The episodes happened every few minutes, and it's been several hours. Would I have been able to endure all that, or would I be dead right now? Would life have been over... _that_ fast?_

He wondered how many more times Tails had had to suffer while he was gone. Alone. He thought back to that moment he had broken eye contact with the fox. That moment was very vivid in his memory. He had never seen Tails so helpless. He had _begged _him to stay. And he didn't.

Sonic's guilt trip was interrupted suddenly when a white sheet of paper riding the wind caught his gaze. In any other place, it wouldn't have mattered. But something about a piece of man-made paper floating through such a natural place as the Mystic Ruins struck him as odd. Then he realized that the only place there would be paper in the Mystic Ruins... was Tails's workshop.

Naturally, he looked in the direction of said workshop. He saw that he had left the front door open. It had allowed the wind to pull the paper outside.

His stomach sank. He didn't know why.

He slowed to a jog so as to not create morewind and blow the paper away, his previous guilt suddenly ceasing to matter. Then, as he approached, he reached up and pinched it between his thumb and forefinger.

He didn't know what he expected to see on that piece of paper. So when he saw Tails's handwriting, it surprised him, even though he knew it probably shouldn't have.

_Sonic,_

_I don't know how much longer this'll last. It happened again after you left. It hurts more than anything ever has. I don't know when it'll happen a third time, and I don't know when you'll be back, so I wanted to write something just in case._

Something inside Sonic shattered as he realized the horrible significance behind the letter. He felt his resolve falter and crumble. The shine in his eyes turned from determination to loss and helplessness.

Tails's writing got more and more spaced out and messy.

_Thought I'd last a little while longer. Once, I thought I had decades and decades to do everything I wanted to do. If I knew earlier in my life that one of us wouldn't be able to survive this, there are so many things I would have told you, and so many things I would have wanted us to do together before this happened. You know, I wanted to teach you to swim one day. It was my dream to see you float in the water by yourself._

Sonic bit his lip, remembering what Tails had said to him at the doctor's office just a few weeks ago: "I should make you go jump in a pool." He had snorted, he recalled, and after he left the room, Tails had deliberated before following him. Had he hurt the fox's feelings? Had that comment had a second meaning to it; a meaning aside from a simple lighthearted joke?

Then he remembered what had happened in the water after the plane crash. He had put his life in Tails's hands that day, but he'd had to cling onto the fox the entire time. He had been incapable of swimming himself.

Sonic kept reading. Tails's writing became increasingly shakier, and his sentences became frighteningly brief.

_Thought I had all the time in the world. Never said or did those things. Ow. Time bomb is about to go off. I hope you make the best of your time here without me. Lucky to have it. You still only had 37 percent chance of surviving with antidote, remember? Lucky to survive. So be happy. Life goes by fast. _

_"_I already knew that, little bro," Sonic whispered, imagining that Tails was standing right in front of him, listening. "You have to live it while it lasts." _But why couldn't yours have lasted long enough for you to _live_?_

Almost a minute went by before Sonic could move. When he finally managed to force open his eyes, he read the last line of the note, hands shaking in anger and despair as he struggled to keep his grip on the piece of paper.

_Life moves as fast as you do. But you can keep up with_

"...Wh-what?" The writing stopped, even though it hadn't reached the bottom of the page. Sonic turned it over anyway, but there were no words on the back.

He had known the message Tails's letter was delivering all along. But when he saw that the last sentence had gone unfinished, something hard and sharp grasped his stomach and squeezed mercilessly. Tails had stopped writing in the middle of a sentence. There was only one reason Tails would do that.

Because he never had a choice.

As Sonic suddenly recalled the conversation he and Tails had had a week ago, he realized something that - deep down - he had really known all along: _Everything Tails said to me that evening... all that talk of being able to return the favors I've given him... he meant it all._

And then it hit home. Violent waves of despair tore through Sonic's being, and it hurt more than any physical pain _ever _had. His hands continued to shake in rage and loss, and he bit down on his lip so hard it bled. He had never fathomed it ending like this - it had never even seemed a possibility. Yet, despite all their efforts, it had.

He was almost waiting to wake up on Tails's couch in the middle of the night, sweating cold bullets. It could not be set in stone. It could not be real.

In spite of his superficial denial, the truth pierced him like a knife. A few feet inside that door, the orange fox that had been his best friend all these years was now cold and motionless on the floor. Sonic didn't dare take another step in that direction - not right now. Instead, he clutched the letter, the only piece of Tails he had left, tightly in his hand and broke into a run.

There were still people to save. There was still a barrier to deactivate. There was still a sadistic maniac to stop. And after all that, there were swimming lessons to take.

Tails had already given him his last request: live life. And at this point, granting it was all there was left to do for him.

Completely alone, Sonic accelerated into the horizon, where the sun continued to ascend. As he broke the sound barrier, a tear flew off his cheek and into the wind behind him. Now, the irony of the sunrise made terrible sense. Indeed... it _was _the beginning of something. It just wasn't the kind of beginning he had ever wanted.

It was the dawn of a new day; of a new life.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

God, this depressed the hell out of me. Oh, Tails. :( And I can't stand seeing Sonic this upset, even though I'm the one typing it.

That is the end for right now, but be sure to add me to your author alerts so you can get updated when the final installment of this series is released in a few weeks! Please do not neglect the last story in this series just because of the sad ending. After all, you guys never found out what was up with the barrier, or why everything suddenly became so quiet, or why Eggman was using real people as minions up in the Grand Metropolis, or what in the world happened to Kay's husband. How's Sonic going to fare without his lil' bro? How's he going to figure out what Eggman's up to? What were Eggman's _real _motives when he poisoned Sonic and Tails? (Whispers: _And what's up with that strange cannon across from the moon? *cough* You weren't supposed to hear that part yet.)_ I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but this thing's gonna be big, and I promise: you do not want to miss it.


	21. Important author note

**When an author creates a new chapter just for author notes, you know they're probably important. This is the first time I've ever actually done this, but I think some stuffs needed to be said. :)**

**NOTE 1: I have reworked Chapter 20 due to some quite accurate feedback that the chapter did not capture the significance of Tails's death correctly. Once I reread it and tried to look at it from a readers' perspective, I did realize that it was… missing something. If you have already read it, I'd suggest going back to read the changed parts (the additions to the chapter are quite obvious; scroll down until you see material you haven't seen before… it's right after the scene at Angel Island). If you want to say anything about Chapter 20 but have already reviewed, you can either come to this page to submit another one or just PM me.**

**NOTE 2: I'm not oblivious to the fact that response to this chapter has been mixed. I'm aware that there are some of you who have very little motivation to read the sequel to this since Tails is gone. However, I would like to ask that you PLEASE give it until the very **_**END of Chapter 2**_** in the sequel (once it's up) and THEN decide if you think it's worth it to continue reading. I **_**think **_**I'll have it up in a few weeks, though it may be a little longer since I want to get ahead on it before I begin posting it.**

**At least give the plot of **_**The Dark Side of the Moon **_**a ****CHANCE**** to show itself first; you just might find you'll actually **_**want**_** to keep reading. Thanks, and I really hope to see you guys again. *looks at readers hopefully***

**As always, thank you so very much for reading, and an extra thank you to those of you who reviewed and told me what you thought… and a **_**third **_**thank you to those of you who have helped me out to become a decent writer. Oh, oh, and one last thanks to those of you who've been here since the start of the series. You know who you are. ;)**


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